/y4>-^-'=^i^„2 


Brutus  :      "  Art  thou  some  god,  some  angel,  or  some  devil, 

That  male' St  my  blood  cold,  and  my  hair  to  stare  ?  " 

Julius  Cesar  Act  I'V  Scene  3 


Copyright,    1901 

By 

THE    UNIVERSITY    SOCIETY 


COLLEGl 
LIBRARY 

THE  /\  Z 

TRAGEDY  OF  JULIUS  CAESAR.  1^,0  f 

Preface. 

The  First  Edition.  Julius  Cccsar  was  first  published 
in  the  Foho  of  1623.  It  was  printed  with  exceptional 
care,  and  its  text  is  so  accurate,  that  (as  the  Cambridge 
editors  rightly  observe)  it  may  perhaps  have  been  printed 
from  the  original  manuscript  of  the  author.  In  this  re- 
spect it  contrasts  strongly  with  the  play  preceding  it  in  the 
Folio,  the  tragedy  of  Timon  of  Athens.  It  would  seem 
that  the  printing  of  Julius  Ccesar  was  proceeded  with  be- 
fore the  Editors  had  procured  the  copy  of  Timon  {vide 
Preface  to  "  Timon  "). 

The  play  is  mentioned  in  the  Stationers'  Registers,  un- 
der date  of  Nov.  8,  1623,  as  one  of  sixteen  plays  not  pre- 
viously entered  to  other  men. 

The  Source  of  the  Plot.  Shakespeare  derived  his  ma- 
terials for  Julius  Cccsar  from  Sir  Thomas  North's  famous 
translation  of  Plutarch's  ''  Lives  of  the  Noble  Grecians 
and  Romans,''  and  more  especially  from  the  Lives  of 
Caesar,  Brutus,  and  Antony.  In  this  play,  as  in  the  case 
of  Coriolanus  and  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  it  is  impossible 
to  over-estimate  Shakespeare's  debt  to  North's  monu- 
mental version  of  the  work  which  has  been  described  as 
*'  most  sovereign  in  its  dominion  over  the  minds  of  great 
men  in  all  ages."  In  Julius  Cccsar,  as  in  the  other  Roman 
plays,  the  dramatist  has  often  borrowed  North's  very  ex- 
pressions, "'•■'  while  "  of  the  incident  there  is  almost  nothing 

*  One  example  will  sufifice  to  show  the  correspondence  of  the 
verse  and  prose  : — 


Preface  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

which  he  does  not  owe  to  Plutarch."  Nevertheless,  a 
comparison  of  the  play  with  its  original  reveals  the  poet's 
transforming  power;  he  has  thrown  "a  rich  mantle  of 
poetry  over  all,  which  is  not  wholly  his  own."  * 

The  literary  history  of  North's  book  is  briefly  sum- 
marized on  its  title-page : — "  The  Lives  of  the  Noble  Gre- 
cians, compared  together  by  that  grave  learned  philosopher 
and  historiographer  Plutarke  of  Ch.^ronia,  translated 
out  of  Greek  into  French  by  James  Amyot,  Abbot  of  Bel- 
lozane,  Bishop  of  Auxerre,  one  of  the  King's  Privy  Coun- 
cil, and  great  Aniner  of  France,  and  nozi^  out  of  French 
into  English  by  Thomas  North.     1759." t 

Specially  noteworthy  is  Shakespeare's  compression  of 
the  action,  for  the  purposes  of  dramatic  representation, 
e.g.  (i.)  Caesar's  triumph  is  made  coincident  with  the 
Lu per c alia  (historically  it  was  celebrated  six  months  be- 

"/  dare  assure  thee  that  no  enemy 
Shall  ever  take  alive  the  noble  Brutus: 
The  gods  defend  him  from  so  great  a  shame! 
When  you  do  iind  him,  or  alive  or  dead, 
He  will  be  found  like  Bruius,  like  himself." 

(V:  iv.  21-25.) 
Cp.  "I  dare  assure  thee,  that  no  enemy  hath  taken   or  shall 
take  Marcus  Brutus  alive,  and  I  beseech  God  keep  him  from  that 
fortune;  for  zuheresoever  he  be  found,  alive  or  dead,  he  will  be 
found  like  Jiimself." — (North's  Life  of  Brutus.) 

*  Vide  Trench's  Lectures  on  Plutarch  (pp.  64-66). 
t  The  best  modern  edition  is  that  now  in  course  of  publication 
in  Mr.  Nutt's  "  Tudor  Translations  " ;  Vol.  I.  contains  an  excel- 
lent introductory  study  by  Mr.  Wyndham. 

Prof.  Skeat's  Shakespeare's  Plutarch  (Macmillan)  is  a  valuable 
and  handy  book  for  students. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  which  edition  of  North's  Plutarch  was 
used  by  Shakespeare:  new  editions  appeared  in  1595,  1603,  and 
1612.  As  far  as  Julius  Ccusar  is  concerned  the  choice  is  limited 
to  the  first  and  second  editions.  The  Greenock  1612  edition,  with 
the  initials  W.  S.  and  with  some  suggestive  notes  in  the  Life  of 
Julius  Cccsar,  was  certainly  not  used  for  the  present  play  {vide 
Preface  to  Coriolanus). 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Preface 

fore)  ;  (ii.)  the  combination  of  the  two  battles  of  Philippi 
(the  interval  of  twenty  days  being  ignored)  ;  (iii.)  the 
murder,  the  funeral  orations,  and  the  arrival  of  Octavius, 
are  made  to  take  place  on  the  same  day  (not  so  actually). 
Again,  Shakespeare  departs  from  Plutarch  in  making 
the  Capitol  the  scene  of  the  murder,  instead  of  the  Curia 
Pompciana.  In  this  point,  however,  he  follows  a  literary 
tradition,  which  is  already  founded  in  Chaucer's  Monk's 
Tale  :— 

"In  the  Capitol  anon  him  henfe   (i.e.  seized) 
This  false  Brutus,  and  his  other  foon, 
And  stikked  him  with  bodekins  anoon 
/       With  many  a  wound,  and  thus  they  let  him  lie." 

(It  will  be  remembered  that  Polonius  in  his  student- 
days  "  did  enact  Julius  Caesar,"  "  /  zvas  killed  i'  the  Capi- 
tol; Brutus  killed  me."  "  It  zvas  a  brute  part"  observed 
Hamlet,  ''  to  kill  so  capital  a  calf  there,"  Hamlet,  III.  ii. 
108-110.) 

The  Date  of  Composition.  Perhaps  the  most  valuable 
piece  of  external  evidence  for  the  date  of  Julius  Cccsar  is 
to  be  found  in  Weever's  Mirror  of  Martyrs,  printed  in 
1601  ;  the  following  lines  are  obviously  a  direct  reference 
to  the  present  play  : — 

"■'  The  many-headed  multitude  zvere  drazvn 

By  Brutus'  speech,  that  Cccsar  was  ambitious. 
When  eloquent  Mark  Anionic  had  shewn 
His  virtues,  who  but  Brutus  then  was  vicious?" 

Similarly,  Drayton's  Barons'  Wars — a  revised  version 
made  before  1603  of  his  Mortimeriados,  1596 — contains 
what  may  possibly  have  been  a  reminiscence  of  Shake- 
speare's famous  lines : — 

""  His  life  was  gentle  and  the  elements 
So  mixed  in  him,"  etc.* 

*  It  is  remarkable  that  the  1619  edition  of  The  Barons'  Wars, 
containing  a  further  revision  of  the  passage,  comes  very  near  in- 
deed to  the  passage  in  Shakespeare,  e.g. :— 


Preface  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

This  external  evidence,  pointing  to  circa  1601  as  the 
date  of  the  play,  is  borne  out  by  general  considerations  of 
style  and  versification.*  The  paucity  of  light-endings 
and  weak-endings  (10  of  the  former,  and  none  of  the  lat- 
ter) contrasts  with  the  large  number  found  in  the  other 
Roman  plays  (71  and  28,  respectively,  in  Antony;  60  and 
44  in  Coriolaniis). 

An  interesting  suggestion  connects  Julius  Ccrsar  with 
the  political  affairs  of  1601,  to  wit,  Essex'  reckless  con- 
spiracy. It  is  probably  saying  too  much  to  make  the  play 
a  political  manifesto,  but  the  subject  would  certainly 
"  come  home  to  the  ears  and  hearts  of  a  London  audience 
of  1601,  after  the  favourite's  outbreak  against  his  sov- 
ereign. *  Et  fit  Brute!'  would  mean  more  to  them  than 
to  us"  (Dr.  Furnivall,  Academy,  Sept.  18,  1875). 

Julius  Caesar  and  Hamlet.  Brutus  and  Hamlet  are,  as 
it  were,  twin-brothers, — idealists  forced  to  take  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  world  of  action,  when  they  would  fain 

''As  tJiat  it  seemed,  when  Nature  him  began 
She  meant  to  show  all  that  might  be  a  man." 
*  Mr.  Fleay  thinks  that  the  present  form  of  the  play  belongs  to 
the  year  1607,  and  that  it  represents  an  abridgement  of  a  fuller 
play ;  hence  "  the  paucity  of  rhymes,  the  number  of  short  lines, 
and  the  brevity  of  the  play."  The  same  critic  holds  that  Ben 
Jonson  abridged  the  play,  "  Shakespeare  and  Jonson  probably 
worked  together  on  Scjanus  in  1602-3.  He  having  helped  Jon- 
son then  in  a  historical  play,  what  more  likely  than  that  Jonson 
should  be  chosen  to  remodel  Shakespeare's  Caesar,  if  it  needed  to 
be  reproduced  in  a  shorter  form  than  he  gave  it  originally?  And 
for  such  reproduction  (after  Shakespeare's  death,  between  1616 
and  1623)  to  what  author  would  such  work  of  abridgement  have 
been  entrusted  except  Shakespeare's  critical  friend  Jonson? 
Fletcher  would  have  enlarged,  not  shortened  "  {cp.  Shakespeare 
Manual,  pp.  262-270).  But  would  the  learned  Jonson  have  per- 
mitted such  errors  as  "  Decius  "  Brutus,  and  the  like?  The  stu- 
dent should  contrast  the  archseologically  "  correct,"  but  lifeless, 
Sejanus,  with  Shakespeare's  living  characters  infused  with  the 
Roman  spirit. 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Preface 

contemplate  the  actions  of  others  ;  action  brings  ruin  alike 
to  the  reckless  philosopher  and  to  the  irresolute  blood- 
avenger.  Shakespeare  recognised  the  kinship  of  the  two 
characters,  and  it  would  seem,  from  internal  evidence,  that 
his  mind  was  busy  with  the  two  conceptions  at  about  the 
same  time.  Polonius,  as  has  already  been  pointed  out, 
prides  himself  on  his  personation  of  Julius  Ccusar,  while 
at  the  University  ;  Horatio,  who  is  "  more  an  antique 
Roman  than  a  Dane,"  sees  in  the  apparition  of  "  the  buried 
majesty  of  Denmark  "  the  precurse  of  fierce  events,  even 
as 

''In  the  most  high  and  palmy  state  of  Rome, 
A  little  ere  the  mightiest  Julius  fell, 
The  graves  stood  tenantless,  and  the  sheeted  dead 
Did  squeak  and  gibber  in  the  Roman  streets"; 

Hamlet,  in  the  graveyard,  moralises  on  "  Imperious 
Ccesar,  dead  and  turned  to  dust "  ;  when  the  King,  watch- 
ing '  the  poison  of  deep  grief  '  in  poor  Ophelia,  reproaches 
himself  for  having  done  but  greenly  "  in  hugger-mugger  " 
to  inter  her  father,  who  can  doubt  that  the  strange  phrase 
is  a  reminiscence  of  North's  Life  of  Brutus?  * 

The  Speech  of  Brutus.  If,  as  is  most  probable,  Julius 
Ccesar  preceded  Hamlet,  it  is  not  altogether  surprising  to 
find  in  the  latter  play  these  striking  references  to  the 
former  subject.  It  would,  however,  prove  a  matter  of 
greater  interest  and  importance  were  we  to  discover  in 
Julius  Ccesar  some  direct  connexion  with  the  subject  of 
Hamlet.  The  present  writer  ventures  to  think  he  may 
have  found  some  such  connexion.  Brutus'  famous  ad- 
dress to  the  assembled  Romans  (III.  ii.)  has  an  irresistible 
fascination  for  the  student  of  the  play.  Its  curtness  is 
said  to  be  in  imitation  of  the  speaker's  "  famed  laconic 
brevity,"  v\'hereof  Shakespeare  found  a  vivid  account  in 

*  "Antony  thinking  good  that  Ccesar' s  body  should  be  honour- 
ably buried,  and  not  in  hugger-mugger." 

5 


Preface  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

North's  Life  of  Brutus,'^  but  one  looks  in  vain  for  any 
suggestion  of  the  speech  in  any  of  the  Lives.] 

The  original  of  the  speech,  according  to  the  theory  here 
hazarded,  is  perhaps  to  be  found  in  Belleforest's  History 
of  Hamlet.  Chapter  VI.  (in  the  earliest  extant  English 
version)  tells,  ''  Hozv  Hamlet,  having  slain  his  Uncle,  and 
burnt  his  Palace,  made  an  Oration  to  the  Danes  to  shew 
them  ivJiat  he  had  done'' ;  &c.  The  situation  of  Hamlet 
is  almost  identical  with  that  of  Brutus  after  he  has  dealt 
the  blow,  and  the  burden  of  Hamlet's  too  lengthy  speech 
finds  an  echo  in  Brutus'  sententious  utterance.  The  ver- 
bose iteration  of  the  Dane  has  been  compressed  to  suit 
"  the  brief  compendious  manner  of  speech  of  the  Lace- 
daemonians." ;j; 

*  "  When  the  war  began  he  wrote  unto  the  Pergamenians  in 
this  sort :  '  I  understand  you  have  given  Dolahella  money ;  if  you 
have  done  so  willingly,  you  confess  you  have  offended  me ;  if 
against  your  wills,  shew  it  then  by  giving  m.e  willingly.'  Another 
time  again  unto  the  Samians :  *  Your  councils  be  long,  your 
doings  be  slow,  consider  the  end'  "  {Life  of  Brutus). 

t  Similarly,  no  direct  source  for  Antony's  speech  to  the  citizens 
(III.  ii.)  is  to  be  found  in  Plutarch.  It  is  just  possible  that  a 
few  bare  hints  were  derived  from  Appian's  History  of  the  Civil 
War,  which  had  been  translated,  from  Greek,  into  English  be- 
fore 1578. 

1 1  draw  attention  to  the  following  sentences  taken  at  random 
from  the  English  translation  (dated  1608),  without  entering  into 
the  question  of  Shakespeare's  acquaintance  with  Belleforest  in 
the  original  French  (vide  Preface  to  Hamlet): — "If  there  be 
any  among  you,  good  people  of  Denmark,  that  as  yet  have  fresh 
within  your  memories  the  wrong  done  to  the  valiant  King  Hor- 
vendile,  let  him  not  be  moved,  etc.  ...  If  there  be  any  man 
that  affecteth  fidelity  ...  let  him  not  be  ashamed  beholding 
this  massacre.  .  .  .  The  hand  that  hath  done  this  justice 
could  not  affect  it  by  any  other  means.  .  .  .  And  what  mad 
man  is  he  that  delighteth  more  in  the  tyranny  of  Fengon  than  in 
the  clemency  and  renewed  courtesy  of  Horvendile?  And  what 
man  is  he,  that  having  any  spark  of  wisdom,  etc.  I  perceive  you 
are  attentive,  and  abashed  for  not  knowing  the  author  of  your 

6 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Preface 

References  to  Julius  Caesar  in  Shakespeare's  Notes. 

Scattered  throughout  the  plays  there  are  many  other  strik- 
ing references  to  "  mighty  C£esar."  The  following  is  a 
fairly  full  list  of  the  more  important  allusions : — As  You 
Like  It  (Y.  ii.  34-35)  ;  2  Henry  IV.  (I.  i.  20-24;  IV.  iii. 
45-46)  ;  Henry  V.  (Chorus  Act  V.)  ;  i  Henry  VI.  (1.  i. 
55-56;  I.  ii.  138-139)  ;  2  Henry  VI.  (IV.  i.  136-138;  IV. 
vii.  65)  ;  3  Henry  [7.  (V.  v.  53)  ;  Richard  III.  (III.  i. 
69)  ;  Measure  for  Measure  (III.  ii.  45-46)  ;  Cyinbeline 
(II.  iv.  20-23  ;  III- i- 49-52).  The  catastrophe  of  the  play 
finds,  of  course,  its  real  culmination  in  the  tragedy  of  An- 
tony and  Cleopatra ;  two  direct  allusions  to  Julius  Ccesar 
are  noteworthy: — Act  II.  vi.  14-18,  Act  III.  ii.  53-56. 
Observe,  also,  the  reference  to  "  Cato's  daughter,  Brutus' 
Portia,"  in  Merchant  of  Venice  (I.  i.  165-166). 

Duration  of  Action,  The  time  of  Julius  Ccesar  is  six 
days  represented  on  the  stage,  with  intervals,  arranged  as 
follows : — 

Day  I,  Act  I.  Sc.  i.,  ii.  Interval.  Day  2,  Act  I.  Sc.  iii. 
Day  3,  Acts  II.,  III.  Interval.  Day  4,  Act  IV.  Sc.  i. 
Interval.  Day  5.  Act  IV.  Sc.  ii.,  iii.  Interval.  Day  6, 
Act  V.  The  historical  period  extends  from  Caesar's  Tri- 
umph, October,  45  b.c,  to  the  Battle  of  Philippi,  in  the 
autumn  of  the  year  42  b.c. 

Plays  on  "Julius  Caesar."  (i.)  There  is  no  doubt  as 
to  the  popularity  of  the  subject  of  Julius  Ccesar  on  the 
English  stage  before  the  appearance  of  Shakespeare's  play, 
though  it  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  the  latter  owes 
anything  to  its  predecessors,  unless  it  be  the  phrase  "  Et 
tu,  Brute,"  which  may  indirectly  have  been  derived  from 
Dr.  Eedes'  play  of  Ccesar  is  Interfecti,  acted  at  Oxford  in 
1582.  Gosson,  in  his  School  of  Abuse,  1579,  mentions 
*  Ccesar  and  Pompey  ' ;  while  from  Machyn's  Diary  it  is 
inferred  that '  Julius  Caesar '  was  represented  at  Whitehall 
as  early  as  1562,  but  this  is  somewhat  doubtful. 

deliverance."  (The  whole  speech  should  be  read  in  Collier's 
Reprint  of  the  History  of  Hamlet,  Shakespeare  Library.) 

7 


Preface  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

According  to  Henslowe's  Diary,  "  the  Tragedy  of  Ccesar 
and  Pornpey;  or  Ccesar' s  Revenge''  was  produced  in  1594. 

(ii.)  The  present  play  evidently  called  forth  rival  pro- 
ductions, and  gave  a  fresh  interest  to  the  subject,*  for  we 
find  that  a  play  entitled  Ccesar' s  Fall  was,  in  1602,  being 
prepared  by  Munday,  Drayton,  Webster,  Middleton,  and 
others.  In  1604  William  Alexander,  Lord  Stirling,  pub- 
lished in  Scotland  his  "  Julius  Ccesar''  which  was  re-pub- 
lished in  England  some  three  years  later. 

A  droll  or  puppet-show  on  the  same  subject  is  men- 
tioned by  Marston  in  1605,  and  by  Jonson  in  1609. 

Ccesar s  Tragedy  acted  at  Court,  loth  April,  161 3,  was 
possibly  Shakespeare's  play  {vide  Note,  supra.) 

(In  Fletcher's  Maid's  Tragedy  [circa  1608]  the  quarrel 
between  Brutus  and  Cassius  is  imitated.) 

(iii.)  After  the  publication  of  the  First  Folio  we  have 
Thomas  May's  Latin  play,  1625,  and  George  Chapman's 
*'  Ccesar  and  Pompey:  a  Roman  Tragedy,  declaring  their 
wars,  out  of  whose  events  is  evicted  this  proposition  that 
only  a  just  man  is  a  free  man." 

(iv.)  In  1719  Davenant  and  Dryden  published  their  al- 
teration of  Shakespeare's  play,  adapting  it  to  the  tastes  of 
their  day.  To  about  the  same  period  belongs  Voltaire's 
"  Le  Brutus,"  an  interesting  document  illustrative  of  the 
slow  appreciation  of  Shakespeare  on  the  Continent ;  its 
introductory  essay  on  '  Tragedy  '  is  almost  as  instructive 
as  the  text.  No  play  of  Shakespeare's  has  been  more 
popular,  and  probably  none  has  become  more  widely 
known,  translated  into  strangest  dialects,  so  that  the  words 
spoken  by  Cassius  have  a  prophetic  significance  in  a  sense 
other  than  that  intended  by  their  inspired  author : — 

**  ^oto  manp  aoeff  f)ence 
.^ban  t\)\i  our  loftp  ?cene  be  acteb  ober 
%n  j^tatej^  unborn  anb  accent)^  pet  unfenoton/' 

*  The  popularity  of  Shakespeare's  play  is  in  all  probability  at- 
tested by  Leonard  Digges'  verses  prefixed  to  the  First  Folio 
(1623)  :— 

"  Or  till  I  hear  a  scene  more  nobly  take 
Than  when  thy  half-sword  partying  Romans  spake,"  etc, 

a 


JULIUS  CAESAR 


Critical  Comments. 
I. 

Argument. 

I.  Julius  Caesar  returns  victorious  from  foreign  wars 
and,  according  to  custom,  the  citizens  of  Rome  escort 
him  in  triumph  to  the  Capitol.  So  overjoyed  are  they 
that  Mark  Antony  deems  the  day  propitious  to  offer  him 
a  kingly  crown.  This  is  thrice  offered  and  thrice  re- 
fused. But  even  in  the  hour  of  Caesar's  greatest  triumph 
forces  are  at  work  against  him.  Cassius  has  gathered 
together  a  band  of  conspirators,  who  finally  persuade 
Brutus,  a  high-minded  Roman,  to  join  them,  under  the 
belief  that  the  death  of  Caesar  will  be  for  the  country's 
good. 

II.  Upon  his  entry  into  Rome,  Caesar  had  been 
w^arned  by  a  soothsayer  to  ''  beware  the  ides  of  March." 
So  on  the  dawn  of  this  portentous  day,  he  is  minded  to 
remain  at  home,  especially  since  his  wife  has  been  the 
victim  of  ominous  dreams.  But  the  conspirators  have 
foreseen  his  hesitancy  and  therefore  come  in  a  body  to 
urge  his  attendance  at  the  senate-house.  Ashamed  of 
his  fears,  he  yields  and  goes  with  them. 

III.  Once  in  the  senate-house,  the  conspirators,  un- 
der guise  of  presenting  a  petition,  press  about  Caesar ; 
and  presently  each  one  stabs  him,  Brutus  thrusting  last 
of  all.  Caesar  murmurs,  "And  thou,  Brutus?"  and  ex- 
pires. 

Mark  Antony,  Caesar's  steadfast  friend,  flies  at  the 
first  scent  of  danger,  but  returns  to  dissemble  with  the 
slayers  of  Caesar.  He  pleads  friendliness  for  their  cause, 
but  begs  permission  to  speak  at  the  burial  of  the  slain 
leader.     Brutus  generously  consents  to  this,  despite  his 


Comments  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

friends'  disapproval,  stipulating  only  that  he  himself 
speak  first,  and  that  Antony  in  his  oration  make  no 
charges.  Antony  declares  himself  satisfied.  Brutus  ac- 
cordingly makes  a  short  speech  to  the  citizens,  in  which 
he  pleads  the  general  welfare  as  sufficient  cause  and  ex- 
cuse for  the  slaying  of  Csesar.  Antony  follows  him  in 
a  skilful  harangue,  full  of  praise  for  Caesar ;  and  though 
referring  to  Brutus  and  his  party  as  "  honourable  men," 
he  turns  the  term  into  a  reproach  and  byword.  The 
populace,  which  but  a  moment  before  was  applauding 
Brutus  to  the  echo,  now  turns  in  fury  against  him.  The 
conspirators  are  forced  to  fiee  the  city. 

IV,  Upon  the  death  of  Caesar  two  factions  arise  and 
take  the  field  against  each  other.  The  first  is  the  army 
of  Brutus  and  Cassius.  The  second  comprises  the  forces 
of  a  newly-formed  triumvirate,  consisting  of  Mark  An- 
tony, Octavius  Caesar,  and  Lepidus.  Both  armies  con- 
verge towards  the  Plains  of  Philippi.  One  night  w^hile 
Brutus  is  lying  awake  and  restless  in  his  tent,  the  ghost 
of  Caesar  appears  and  tells  him,  "  Thou  shalt  see  me  at 
Philippi." 

V.  The  forces  meet  at  Philippi  and  engage  in  battle. 
But  from  the  first  the  troops  of  Brutus  and  Cassius  are 
dispirited — unconsciously  influenced  by  the  forebodings 
that  have  come  to  both  their  leaders.  With  his  own 
"  good  sword,  that  ran  through  Caesar's  bowels,"  Cassius 
causes  himself  to  be  killed  by  his  servant  Pindarus. 
Later  in  the  day  Brutus  runs  on  his  sword  and  dies. 
The  triumvirate  are  victorious,  and  Caesar  may  "  now  be 
still." 

McSpadden  :  Shakespearian  Synopses, 

IL 

Character  of  Caesar. 

The  character  of  Caesar  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  in 
Shakespeare.  '  Under  the  influence  of  some  of  his 
speeches  we  find  ourselves  in  the  presence  of  one  of  the 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Comments 

master  spirits  of  mankind;  other  scenes  in  which  he 
plays  a  leading  part  breathe  nothing-  but  the  feeblest 
vacillation  and  weakness.  It  is  the  business  of  Character- 
Interpretation  to  harmonise  this  contradiction ;  it  is 
not  interpretation  at  all  to  ignore  one  side  of  it  and 
be  content  with  describing  Caesar  as  vacillating.  The 
force  and  strength  of  his  character  is  seen  in  the  im- 
pression he  makes  upon  forceful  and  strong  men.  The 
attitude  of  Brutus  to  C^sar  seems  throughout  to  be  that 
of  looking  up;  and  notably  at  one  point  the  thought  of 
Caesar's  greatness  seems  to  cast  a  lurid  gleam  over  the 
assassination  plot  itself,  and  Brutus  feels  that  the 
grandeur  of  the  victim  gives  a  dignity  to  the  crime: — 

Let  's  carve  him  as  a  dish  fit  for  the  gods. 

The  strength  and  force  of  Antony  again  no  one  will  ques- 
tion; and  Antony,  at  the  moment  when  he  is  alone  with 
the  corpse  of  Caesar  and  can  have  no  motive  for  hypoc- 
risy, apostrophises  it  in  the  words — 

Thou  art  the  ruins  of  the  noblest  man 
That  ever  lived  in  the  tide  of  times. 

And  we  see  enough  of  Caesar  in  the  play  to  bear  out  the 
opinions  of  Brutus  and  Antony.  Those  who  accept  vac- 
illation as  sufficient  description  of  Caesar's  character 
must  explain  his  strong  speeches  as  vaunting  and  self- 
assertion.  But  surely  it  must  be  possible  for  dramatic 
language  to  distinguish  between  the  true  and  the  as- 
sumed force;  and  equally  surely  there  is  a  genuine  ring 
in  the  speeches  in  which  Caesar's  heroic  spirit,  shut  out 
from  the  natural  sphere  of  action  in  which  it  has  been 
so  often  proved,  leaps  restlessly  at  every  opportunitv 
into  pregnant  words.  We  may  thus  feel  certain  of  his 
lofty  physical  courage. 

Cowards  die  many  times  before  their  deaths ; 
The  valiant  never  taste  of  death  but  once. 


Comments  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Of  all  the  wonders  that  I  3'et  have  heard. 

It  seems  to  me  most  strange  that  men  should  fear     .     .     . 

Danger  knows  full  well 
That  Caesar  is  more  dangerous  than  he : 
We  are  two  lions  litter'd  in  one  day, 
And  I  the  elder  and  more  terrible. 

A  man  must  have  felt  the  thrill  of  courage  in  search  of 
its  food,  danger,  before  his  self-assertion  finds  language 
of  this  kind  in  which  to  express  itself.  In  another 
scene  we  have  the  perfect  forfitcr  in  re  and  siiavitcr  in 
modo  of  the  trained  statesmanship  exhibited  in  the  cour- 
tesy with  which  Caesar  receives  the  conspirators,  com- 
bined with  his  perfect  readiness  to  ''  tell  graybeards  the 
truth."  Nor  could  imperial  firmness  be  more  ideally 
painted  than  in  the  way  in  which  Caesar  ''  prevents  " 
Cimber's  intercession. 

There  is  another  circumstance  to  be  taken  into  account 
in  explaining  the  weakness  of  Caesar.  A  change  has  come 
over  the  spirit  of  Roman  political  life  itself — such  seems 
to  be  Shakespeare's  conception :  Caesar  on  his  return  has 
found  Rome  no  longer  the  Rome  he  had  known.  Before 
he  left  for  Gaill,  Rome  had  been  the  ideal  sphere  for  public 
life,  the  arena  in  which  principles  alone  were  allowed  to 
combat,  and  from  which  the  banishment  of  personal  aims 
and  passions  was  the  first  condition  of  virtue.  In  his 
absence  Rome  has  gradually  degenerated;  the  mob  has 
become  the  ruling  force,  and  introduced  an  eleinent  of 
uncertainty  into  political  life;  politics  has  passed  from 
science  into  gambling.  A  new  order  of  public  men  has 
arisen,  of  which  Cassius  and  Antony  are  the  types;  per- 
sonal aims,  personal  temptations,  and  personal  risks  are 
now  inextricably  interwoven  with  public  action.  This  is 
a  changed  order  of  things  to  which  the  mind  of  Caesar, 
cast  in  a  higher  mould,  lacks  the  power  to  adapt  itself. 
His  vacillation  is  the  vacillation  of  unfamiliarity  with  the 
new  political  conditions.  He  refuses  the  crown  "  each 
time  gentler  than  the  other,"  showing  want  of  decisive 

12 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Comments 

reading  in  dealing  with  the  fickle  mob;  and  on  his  re- 
turn from  the  Capitol  he  is  too  untrained  in  hypocrisy 
CO  conceal  the  angry  spot  upon  his  face ;  he  has  tried  to 
use  the  new  weapons  which  he  does  not  understand,  and 
las  failed.  It  is  a  subtle  touch  of  Shakespeare's  to  the 
same  effect  that  Caesar  is  represented  as  having  himself 
undergone  a  change  of  late  : — 

For  he  is  superstitious  grown  of  late, 
Quite  from  the  main  opinion  he  held  once 
Of  fantasy,  of  dreams  and  ceremonies. 

To  come  back  to  a  world  of  which  you  have  mastered  the 
machinery,  and  to  find  that  it  is  no  longer  governed  by 
machinery  at  all,  that  causes  no  longer  produce  their  ef- 
fects— this,  if  anything,  might  well  drive  a  strong  intellect 
to  superstition.  And  herein  consists  the  pathos  of  Caesar's 
situation.  The  deepest  tragedy  of  the  play  is  not  the  as- 
sassination of  Caesar,  it  is  rather  seen  in  such  a  speech  as 
this  of  Decius  : — 

If  he  be  so  resolved, 
I  can  o'ersway  him ;  for  he  loves  to  hear 
That  unicorns  may  be  betray'd  with  trees 
And  bears  with  glasses,  elephants  with  holes, 
Lions  with  toils  and  men  with  flatterers; 
But  when  I  tell  him  he  hates  flatterers, 
He  says  he  does,  being  then  most  flattered. 

Assassination  is  a  less  piteous  thing  than  to  see  the  giant 
intellect  by  its  very  strength  unable  to  contend  against  the 
low  cunning  of  a  fifth-rate  intriguer. 

Such,  then,  appears  to  be  Shakespeare's  conception 
of  Julius  Caesar.  He  is  the  consummate  type  of  the 
practical:  emphatically  the  public  man,  complete  in  all 
the  greatness  that  belongs  to  action.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  knowledge  of  self  produced  by  self-contempla- 
tion is  wanting,  and  so  when  he  comes  to  consider  the 
relation  of  his  individual  self  to  the  state  he  vacillates 
with  the  vacillation  of  a  strong  man  moving  amongst 


Comments  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

men  of  whose  greater  intellectual  subtlety  he  is  dimly 
conscious:  no  unnatural  conception  for  a  Csesar  who 
has  been  founding-  empires  abroad  while  his  fellows  have 
been  sharpening  their  wits  in  the  party  contests  of  a  de- 
caying state. 

MouLTON  :  Shakespeare  as  a  Dramatic  Artist. 

III. 

Why  Caesar  Seems  Insignificant. 

The  character  of  Caesar  in  our  play  has  been  much 
blamed.  He  is  declared  to  be  unlike  the  idea  conceived 
of  him  from  his  Comnicntarics)  it  is  said  that  he  does 
nothing,  and  only  utters  a  few  pompous,  thrasonical, 
grandiloquent  words,  and  it  has  been  asked  whether  this 
be  the  Caesar  that  did  "awe  the  world?"  The  poet,  if 
he  intended  to  make  the  attempt  of  the  republicans  his 
main  theme,  could  not  have  ventured  to  create  too  great 
an  interest  in  Caesar;  it  was  necessary  to  keep  him  in  the 
background,  and  to  present  that  view  of  him  which 
gave  a  reason  for  the  conspiracy.  According  even  to 
Plutarch,  whose  biography  of  Caesar  is  acknowledged  to 
be  very  imperfect,  Cesar's  character  altered  much  for 
the  worse  shortly  before  his  death,  and  Shakespeare  has 
represented  him  according  to  this  suggestion.  With 
what  reverence  Shakespeare  viewed  his  character  as  a 
whole  wx  learn  from  several  passages  of  his  works,  and 
even  in  this  play  from  the  way  in  which  he  allows  his 
memory  to  be  respected  as  soon  as  he  is  dead.  In  the 
descriptions  of  Cassius  w^e  look  back  upon  the  time 
when  the  great  man  was  natural,  simple,  undissembling, 
popular,  and  on  an  equal  footing  with  others.  Now  he 
is  spoiled  by  victory,  success,  power,  and  by  the  re- 
publican courtiers  who  surround  him.  He  stands  close 
on  the  borders  between  usurpation  and  discretion :  he  is 
master  in  reality,  and  is  on  the  point  of  assuming  the 
name  and  the  right;    he  desires  heirs  to  the  throne;    he 

14 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Comments 

hesitates  to  accept  the  crown  which  he  would  gladly 
possess;  he  is  ambitious,  and  fears  he  may  have  be- 
trayed this  in  his  paroxysms  of  epilepsy;  he  exclaims 
against  flatterers  and  cringers,  and  yet  both  please  him. 
All  around  him  treat  him  as  a  master,  his  wife  as  a 
prince;  the  senate  allow  themselves  to  be  called  his 
senate;  he  assumes  the  appearance  of  a  king  even  in 
his  house ;  even  with  his  wife  he  uses  the  language  of  a 
man  who  knows  himself  secure  of  power;  and  he  main- 
tains everywhere  the  proud,  strict  bearing  of  a  soldier, 
which  is  represented  even  in  his  statues.  If  one  of  the 
changes  at  which  Plutarch  hints  lay  in  this  pride,  this 
haughtiness,  another  lay  in  his  superstition.  In  the 
suspicion  and  apprehension  before  the  final  step,  he 
was  seized,  contrary  to  his  usual  nature  and  habit,  with 
misgivings  and  superstitious  fears,  which  affected  like- 
wise the  hitherto  free-minded  Calphurnia.  These  con- 
flicting feelings  divide  him,  his  forebodings  excite  him, 
his  pride  and  his  defiance  of  danger  struggle  against 
them,  and  restore  his  former  confidence,  which  was  nat- 
ural to  him,  and  which  causes  his  ruin  ;  just  as  a  like 
confidence,  springing  from  another  source,  ruined  Bru- 
tus. The  actor  must  make  his  high-sounding  language 
appear  as  the  result  of  this  discord  of  feeling. 

Gervinus:  Shakespeare  Commentaries. 

IV. 

Brutus. 

Brutus  is  the  true  hero  of  the  piece.  .  .  .  Cole- 
ridge has  thrown  out  a  very  pertinent  doubt  as  to  what 
sort  of  a  character  Shakespeare  meant  his  Brutus  to  be. 
For  it  is  remarkable  that  in  his  thinking  aloud,  a  little 
after  the  breaking  of  the  conspiracy  to  him,  he  avow- 
edly bottoms  his  purpose,  not  at  all  on  anything  Caesar 
has  done  nor  what  he  is,  but  simply  on  what  he  may 
become  when  crowned.     .     .     . 

15 


Comments  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

And  yet  the  character  of  Brutus  in  the  play,  as  in  his- 
tory, is  full  of  beauty  and  sweetness  ;  high-minded,  gen- 
erous, brave;  in  all  the  relations  of  life  upright;  gentle, 
and  pure,  his  honour  as  white  as  new-coined  snow ;  of  a 
sensitiveness  and  delicacy  of  principle  that  cannot  bosom 
the  slightest  stain;  scorning  to  bind  his  promise  with 
an  oath,  as  one  who  will  sooner  die  than  swerve  a  hair 
from  his  lightest  word ;  his  mind  enriched  and  fortified 
Vv'ith  the  best  extractions  of  philosophy ;  in  his  habitual 
demeanour  cheerfully  grave  and  genially  severe;  clothed 
wath  all  the  virtues  which,  in  public  and  private,  at  home 
and  in  the  circle  of  friends,  win  respect  and  charm  the 
heart;  a  real  patriot,  every  inch  of  him,  able  alike  to 
adorn  his  country  in  the  senate  and  in  the  field,  and 
willing  alike  to  serve  her  with  his  life  and  with  his 
death.     .     .     .  -.^^^ 

Of  course,  as  here  represented,  Brutus  could  only  be 
what  he  was  and  yet  do  what  he  did  under  some  kind  of 
delusion.  And  so  indeed  it  is.  Yet  this  very  delusion 
may  be  justly  said  to  have  the  effect  of  ennobling  and 
beautifying  his  character,  forasmuch  as  it  takes  him  and 
works  upon  him  only  through  his  virtues.  A  genuine 
though  perhaps  too  absorbinsc  patriotism  is  the  main- 
spring of  l:is  action.  But  his  patriotism  is  mainly  of  a 
speculative  kind,  and  dwells,  where  his  whole  character 
lias  been  chiefly  formed,  among  the  ideals  of  a  sort  of 
philosophical  and  poetical  dreamland.  He  is  an  ardent 
and  enthusiastic  student  of  books :  Plato  has  been  his 
favourite  teacher,  and  he  has  studiously  framed  his  life 
and  tuned  his  thoughts  to  the  grand  and  pure  concep- 
tions w^on  from  that  all  but  divine  source :  Plato's  genius 
and  spirit  w^alk  with  him  in  the  senate,  sit  w^ith  him  at 
the  fireside,  go  w^ith  him  to  the  w^ar,  and  still  hover  about 
his  tent. 

Nevertheless,  or  perhaps  we  should  rather  say  there- 
fore, he  does  not  really  see  wdiere  he  is  and  what  lies 
about  him,  has  no  clear  eye  for  the  drift  and  temper  of 
the  times,  the  circumstances  and  aptitudes  amidst  which 

i6 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Comments 

he  lives.  The  characters  of  those  who  act  with  him  are 
too  far  below  the  region  of  his  principles  and  habitiia. 
thinkings  for  him  to  take  the  true  cast  of  them.  Him- 
self incapable  of  such  motives  as  prompt  their  action, 
he  therefore  cannot  understand  them:  he  but  projects 
and  suspends  his  ideals  in  them,  and  then  misreckons 
upon  them  as  answering  to  and  realizing  the  men  of  his 
own  brain.  So,  also,  he  clings  to  the  idea  of  the  great 
and  free  republic  of  his  fathers,  the  old  Rome  that  has 
ever  stood  to  his  feelings  touched  with  the  consecrations 
of  time,  and  glorified  by  the  high  virtues  that  have  grown 
up  under  her  cherishing.  But,  in  the  long  reign  of  tear- 
ing faction  and  civil  butchery,  that  which  he  worships 
has  been  substantially  changed,  the  reality  lost.  Caesar, 
already  clothed  with  the  title  and  the  power  of  Imperator 
for  life,  would  but  change  the  form  so  as  to  agree  with 
the  substance,  the  name  so  as  to  fit  the  thing.  But  the 
mind  of  Brutus  is  so  filled  with  the  idea  of  that  which 
has  thus  passed  away  never  to  return,  that  he  thinks  to 
save  or  to  recover  the  whole  thing  by  preventing  such 
formal  and  nominal  change. 

Hudson  :  The  Works  of  Shakespeare. 


Cassius. 

Casslus  was  better  cut  out  for  a  conspirator  [than 
Brutus].  His  heart  prompted  his  head.  His  watchful 
jealousy  made  him  fear  the  worst  that  might  happen, 
and  his  irritability  of  temper  added  to  his  inveteracy  of 
purpose,  and  sharpened  his  patriotism.  The  mixed 
nature  of  his  motives  made  him  fitter  to  contend  with 
bad  men.  The  vices  are  never  so  well  employed  as  in 
combating  one  another.  Tyranny  and  servility  are  to 
be  dealt  with  after  their  own  fashion;  otherwise  they 
will  triumph  over  those  who  spare  them,  and  finally  pro- 
nounce their  funeral  panegyric,  as  Antony  did  that  of 
Brutus : — 

17 


Comments  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

"  All  the  conspirators,  save  only  he, 
Did  that  they  did  in  envy  of  great  Caesar; 
He  only,  in  a  general  honest  thought 
And  common  good  to  all,  made  one  of  them." 

The  quarrel  between  Brutus  and  Cassius  is  managed 
in  a  masterly  way.  The  dramatic  fluctuation  of  passion, 
the  calmness  of  Brutus,  the  heat  of  Cassius,  are  admi- 
rably described ;  and  the  exclamation  of  Cassius  on  hear- 
ing of  the  death  of  Portia,  which  he  does  not  learn  till 
after  their  reconciliation,  "  How  scap'd  I  killing  when 
I  cross'd  you  so?"  gives  double  force  to  all  that  has 
gone  before. 

Hazlitt  :  Characters  of  Shakespear's  Plays. 

VI. 
Brutus  and  Cassius  Compared. 

The  characters  of  Brutus  and  Cassius,  though  without 
any  seeming  effort  or  care,  are  discriminated  with  great 
subtlety  and  depth  of  art ;  scarce  a  word  falling  from 
either  but  what  relishes  somehow  of  their  distinctive 
qualities.  Cassius  is  much  the  better  conspirator,  but 
much  the  worse  man ;  and  therefore  the  better  conspira- 
tor, because  the  worse  man.  For  Brutus  engages  in  the 
conspiracy  on  the  grounds  of  abstract  and  ideal  justice: 
but  Cassius,  from  his  very  principles  of  action,  regards 
it  as  both  a  wrong  and  a  blunder  to  go  about  such  a 
thing  but  with  strong  hopes  of  success.  This,  accord- 
ingly, is  the  end  for  which  he  plans  and  works,  choosing 
and  shaping  his  means  with  a  view  to  compass  it,  mind- 
ing little  whether,  in  themselves,  they  be  just  or  not. 
Withal  he  is  more  impulsive  and  quick,  because  less  un- 
der the  self-discipline  of  moral  principle.  His  motives, 
too,  are  of  a  much  more  mixed  and  various  quality,  be- 
cause his  habits  of  thinking  and  acting  have  grown  by 
the  measures  of  experience:  he  studies  to  understand 
men  as  they  are;   Brutus  is  content  to  understand  them 

i8 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Comments 

as  they  ought  to  be,  and  must  needs  act  with  them  as  if 
they  were  what  he  would  have  them.  Hence,  in  every 
case  where  Brutus  crosses  Cassius,  he  is  wrong,  and 
Cassius  right ;  right,  that  is,  if  success  be  the  proper 
crown  of  their  undertaking.  Still  Brutus  overawes  him 
by  his  moral  energy  and  elevation  of  character,  and  by 
the  open-faced  rectitude  and  nobleness  of  his  principles. 
It  is  observable  that  Cassius  catches  a  sort  of  inspiration 
and  is  raised  above  himself  by  contact  with  Brutus. 

Hudson  :  The  Works  of  Shakespeare. 

VII. 

Portia. 

Portia,  as  Shakespeare  has  truly  felt  and  represented 
the  character,  is  but  a  softened  reflection  of  that  of  her 
husband  Brutus :  on  him  we  see  an  excess  of  natural 
sensibility,  an  almost  womanish  tenderness  of  heart,  re- 
pressed by  the  tenets  of  his  austere  philosophy:  a  stoic 
by  profession,  and  in  reality  the  reverse — acting  deeds 
against  his  nature  by  the  strong  force  of  principle  and 
will.  In  Portia  there  is  the  same  profound  and  passionate 
feeling,  and  all  her  sex's  softness  and  timidity  held  in 
check  by  that  self-discipHne,  that  stately  dignity,  which 
she  thought  became  a  woman  "  so  fathered  and  so  hus- 
banded." The  fact  of  her  inflicting  on  herself  a  volun- 
tary wound  to  try  her  own  fortitude  is  perhaps  the 
strongest  proof  of  this  disposition.  Plutarch  relates  that 
on  the  day  on  which  Caesar  was  assassinated,  Portia  ap- 
peared overcome  with  terror,  and  even  swooned  away, 
but  did  not  in  her  emotion  utter  a  word  which  could  af- 
fect the  conspirators.  Shakespeare  has  rendered  this 
circumstance  literally. 

Portia.  I  prithee,  boy,  run  to  the  senate-house ; 

Stay  not  to  answer  me,  but  get  thee  gone. 

Why  dost  thou  stay? 
Lucius.  To  know  my  errand,  madam. 

19 


Comments  THE  TRAGEDY  OE 

Portia.  I  would  have  had  thee  there,  and  here  again, 
Ere  I  can  tell  thee  what  thou  shouldst  do  there. 

0  constancy,  be  strong  upon  my  side! 

Set  a  huge  mountain  'tween  my  heart  and  tongue ! 

1  have  a  man's  mind,  but  a  woman's  might. 
.     .     .     Ay  me,  how  weak  a  thing 

The  heart  of  woman  is  ! 

There  is  another  beautiful  incident  related  by  Plutarch 
which  could  not  well  be  dramatized.  When  Brutus  and 
Portia  parted  for  the  last  time  in  the  island  of  Nisida, 
she  restrained  all  expression  of  grief  that  she  might  not 
shake  his  fortitude;  but  afterwards,  in  passing  through 
a  chamber  in  which  there  hung  a  picture  of  Hector  and 
Andromache,  she  stopped,  gazed  upon  it  for  a  time  with 
a  settled  sorrow,  and  at  length  burst  into  a  passion  of 
tears. 

If  Portia  had  been  a  Christian,  and  lived  in  later  times, 
she  might  have  been  another  Lady  Russel;  but  she  made 
a  poor  stoic.  No  factitious  or  external  control  was  suf- 
ficient to  restrain  such  an  exuberance  of  sensibility  and 
fancy;  and  those  who  praise  the  philosophy  of  Portia  and 
the  heroism  of  her  death,  certainly  mistook  the  character 
altogether.  It  is  evident,  from  the  manner  of  her  death, 
that  it  was  not  deliberate  self-destruction,  "  after  the 
high  Roman  fashion,"  but  took  place  in  a  paroxysm  of 
madness,  caused  by  overwrought  and  suppressed  feeling, 
grief,  terror,  and  suspense. 

Mrs.  Jameson  :  Characteristics  of  Women. 

VIII. 

Ensemble. 
> 

The  piece  of  Julius  Ccesar,  to  complete  the  action,  re- 
quires to  be  continued  to  the  fall  of  Brutus  and  Cassius. 
Caesar  is  not  the  hero  of  the  piece,  but  Brutus.  The 
amiable  beauty  of  his  character,  his  feeling  and  patriotic 
heroism,  are  portrayed  with  peculiar  care.  Yet  the  poet 
has   pointed   out  with   great   nicety   the   superiority   of 

20 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Comments 

Cassius  over  Brutus  in  independent  volition  and  dis- 
cernment in  judging  of  human  affairs;  that  the  latter, 
from  the  purity  of  his  mind,  and  his  conscientious  love 
of  justice,  is  unlit  to  be  the  head  of  a  party  in  a  state 
entirely  corrupted;  and  that  these  very  faults  give  an 
unfortunate  turn  to  the  cause  of  the  conspirators.  In 
the  part  of  Caesar,  several  ostentatious  speeches  have 
been  censured  as  unsuitable.  But  as  he  never  appears 
in  action,  we  have  no  other  measure  of  his  greatness 
than  the  impression  which  he  makes  upon  the  rest  of 
the  characters,  and  his  peculiar  confidence  in  himself. 
In  this,  Caesar  was  by  no  means  deficient,  as  we  learn 
from  history  and  his  own  writings;  but  he  displayed  it 
more  in  the  easy  ridicule  of  his  enemies  than  in  pompous 
discourses.  The  theatrical  effect  of  this  play  is  injured 
by  a  partial  falling  off  of  the  last  two  acts,  compared 
with  the  preceding,  in  external  splendour  and  rapidity. 
The  first  appearance  of  Caesar  in  festal  robes,  when  the 
music  stops,  and  all  are  silent  whenever  he  opens  his 
mouth,  and  when  the  few  words  which  he  utters  are  re- 
ceived as  oracles,  is  truly  magnificent ;  the  conspiracy 
is  a  true  conspiracy,  which,  in  stolen  interviews  and  in 
the  dead  of  night,  prepares  the  blow  which  is  to  be 
struck  in  open  day,  and  which  is  to  change  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  world ; — the  confused  thronging  before  the 
murder  of  Caesar,  the  general  agitation  even  of  the 
perpetrators  after  the  deed,  are  all  portrayed  with  most 
masterly  skill;  with  the  funeral  procession  and  the 
speech  of  Antony,  the  effect  reaches  its  utmost  height. 
Ccusars  shade  is  more  powerful  to  avenge  his  fall  than  he 
himself  zvas  to  guard  against  it.  After  the  overthrow  of 
the  external  splendour  and  greatness  of  the  conqueror 
and  ruler  of  the  world,  the  intrinsic  grandeur  of  charac- 
ter of  Brutus  and  Cass::: 3  is  all  that  remains  to  fill  the 
stage  and  occupy  the  minds  of  the  spectators:  suitably 
to  their  name,  as  the  last  of  the  Romans,  they  stand 
there,  in  some  degree  alone ;  and  the  forming  of  a  great 
and  hazardous  determination  is  more  powerfully  calcu- 

21 


Comments 

lated  to  excite  our  expectation,  than  the  supporting  the 
consequences  of  the  deed  with  heroic  firmness. 

ScHLEGEL :  Lectures  on  Dramatic  Art  and  Literature. 


The  style  of  Julius  Cccsar  is  characterized  by  simphcity 
and  breadth  of  touch,  and  each  sentence  is  clear,  easy, 
and  flowing,  with  the  thought  clothed  in  perfect  and 
adequate  expression:  the  Hues  are  as  limpid  as  those  of 
Romeo  and  Jidiet,  but  without  their  remains  of  rhyme 
and  Italian  conceits.  Of  all  Shakespeare's  works,  none 
has  greater  purity  of  verse  or  transparent  fluency.  .  .  . 
Nothing  perhaps  in  the  whole  roll  of  dramatic  poetry 
equals  the  tenderness  given  by  Shakespeare  to  Brutus, 
that  tenderness  of  a  strong  nature  which  the  force  of 
contrast  renders  so  touching  and  so  beautiful. 

Staffer  :  Shakespeare  and  Classical  Antiquity. 


Julius  Caesar  is  indeed  protagonist  of  the  tragedy; 
but  it  is  not  the  Caesar  whose  bodily  presence  is  weak, 
whose  mind  is  declining  in  strength  and  sure-footed 
energy,  the  Caesar  who  stands  exposed  to  all  the  acci- 
dents of  fortune.  This  bodily  presence  of  Caesar  is  but 
of  secondary  importance,  and  may  be  supplied  when  it 
actually  passes  away,  by  Octavius  as  its  substitute.  It 
is  the  spirit  of  Caesar  which  is  the  dominant  power  of 
the  tragedy;  against  this — the  spirit  of  Caesar — Brutus 
fought;  but  Brutus,  who  forever  errs  in  practical  poHtics, 
succeeded  only  in  striking  down  Caesar's  body;  he  who 
had  been  weak  now  rises  as  pure  spirit,  strong  and  ter- 
rible, and  avenges  himself  upon  the  conspirators.  The 
contrast  between  the  weakness  of  Caesar's  bodily  pres- 
ence in  the  first  half  of  the  play,  and  the  might  of  his 
spiritual  presence  in  the  latter  half  of  the  play,  is  em- 
phasized, and  perhaps  over-emphasized,  by  Shakspere. 
It  was  the  error  of  Brutus  that  he  failed  to  perceive 
wherein  lay  the  true  Caesarean  power,  and  acted  with 
short-sighted  eagerness  and  violence. 

Dowden  :  Shakspere, 

22 


The  Tragedy  of  Julius  Caesar. 


DRAMATIS  PERSONAE. 


triumvirs    after    the    death    of 
Julius  Ccusar. 


senators. 


Julius  C^sar. 
octavius  c.^sar. 
Marcus  Antonius, 
M.  ^Emil.  Lepidus. 
Cicero,  ^ 

PUBLIUS,  i 

PopiLius  Lena,      ) 

Marcus  Brutus,    ^ 

Cassius, 

Casca^ 

Trebonius, 

LiGARIUS, 

Decius  Brutus, 
Metellus  Cimber, 

CiNNA, 

Flavius  and  IVIarullus,  tribunes. 
Artemidorus  of  Cnidos,  a  teacher  of  Rhetoric. 
A  Soothsayer. 

CiNNA.  a  poet.     Another  Poet. 
1 


inspirators  against  Julius  CcBsar. 


LuciLius, 

^ITINIUS, 

Mess  ALA, 

Young  Cato 

volumnius, 

Varro^ 

Clitus, 

Claudius, 

Strato, 

Lucius, 

Dardanius,    J 

Pindarus,  servant  to  Cassius 


[  friends  to  Brutus  and  Cassius. 


servants  to  Brutus. 


Calpurnia.,  wife  to  Ccesar. 
Portia,  zvife  to  Brutus. 

Senators,  Citizens.  Guards,  Attendants,  etc. 


Scene:  Rome;  the  neighbourhood  of  Sardis;  the  neighbourhooc 
of  Philip  pi. 


The  Tragedy  of  Julius  Caesar. 

ACT  FIRST. 
Scene  I. 

Rome.     A  street. 
Enter  Flavins,  Marnllns,  and  certain  Commoners. 

Flav.  Hence !   home,  you  idle  creatures,  get  you  home : 

Is  this  a  hoHday  ?  what !   know  you  not, 

Being  mechanical,  you  ought  not  walk 

Upon  a  labouring  day  without  the  sign 

Of  your  profession  ?    Speak,  what  trade  art  thou  ? 
First  Com.  Why,  sir,  a  carpenter. 
Mar.  Where  is  thy  leather  apron  and  thy  rule  ? 

What  dost  thou  with  thy  best  apparel  on  ? 

You,  sir,  what  trade  are  you  ? 
Sec.  Com.  Truly,  sir,  in  respect  of  a  fine  workman,        lo 

I  am  but,  as  you  would  say,  a  cobbler. 
Mar.  But  what  trade  art  thou  ?  answer  me  directly. 
Sec.  Com.  A  trade,  sir,  that,  I  hope,  I  may  use  with  a 

safe  conscience ;    which  is  indeed,  sir,  a  mender 

of  bad  soles. 
Mar.  What  trade,  thou  knave  ?  thou  naughty  knave,  what 

trade  ? 
Sec.  Com.  Nay,  I  beseech  you,  sir,  be  not  out  with 

me :  yet,  if  you  be  out,  sir,  I  can  mend  you. 
Mar.  What  mean'st  thou  by  that?    mend  me,  thou 

saucy  fellow !  20 

25 


Act  I.  Sc.  i.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Sec.  Com.  Why,  sir,  cobble  you. 

Flav.  Thou  art  a  cobbler,  art  thou  ? 

Sec.  Corn.  Truly,  sir,  all  that  I  live  by  is  with  the 
awl :  I  meddle  with  no  tradesman's  matters,  nor 
women's  matters,  but  with  awl.  I  am  indeed, 
sir,  a  surgeon  to  old  shoes;  when  they  are  in 
great  danger,  I  re-cover  them.  As  proper  men 
as  ever  trod  upon  neats-leather  have  gone  upon 
my  handiwork. 

Flav.  But  wherefore  art  not  in  thy  shop  to-day  ?  30 

Why  dost  thou  lead  these  men  about  the  streets  ? 

Sec.  Com.  Truly,  sir,  to  wear  out  their  shoes,  to  get 
myself  into  more  work.  But  indeed,  sir,  we 
make  holiday,  to  see  Caesar  and  to  rejoice  in 
his  triumph. 

Mar.  \Mierefore     rejoice?     What    conquest    brings     he 
home? 
What  tributaries  follow  him  to  Rome, 
To  grace  in  captive  bonds  his  chariot-wheels  ? 
You  blocks,   you   stones,  you   worse  than   senseless 

things ! 
O  you  hard  hearts,  you  cruel  men  of  Rome,  40 

Knew  you  not  Pompey  ?    Many  a  time  and  oft 
Have  you  climb'd  up  to  walls  and  battlements. 
To  towers  and  windows,  yea,  to  chimney-tops. 
Your  infants  in  your  arms,  and  there  have  sat 
The  live-long  day  with  patient  expectation 
To  see  great  Pompey  pass  the  streets  of  Rome : 
And  when  you  saw  his  chariot  but  appear, 
Have  you  not  made  an  universal  shout, 
That  Tiber  trembled  underneath  her  banks 
To  hear  the  replication  of  your  sounds  50 

26 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  I.  Sc.  i. 

Made  in  her  concave  shores  ? 

And  do  you  now  put  on  your  best  attire? 

And  do  you  now  cull  out  a  holiday? 

And  do  you  now  strew  flowers  in  his  way 

That  comes  in  triumph  over  Pompey's  blood? 

Be  gone ! 

Run  to  your  houses,  fall  upon  your  knees, 

Pray  to  the  gods  to  intermit  the  plague 

That  needs  must  light  on  this  ingratitude. 

Flaz'.  Go,  go,  good  countrymen,  and,  for  this  fault,        60 
Assemble  all  the  poor  men  of  your  sort ; 
Draw  them  to  Tiber  banks  and  weep  your  tears 
Into  the  channel,  till  the  lowest  stream 
Do  kiss  the  most  exalted  shores  of  all. 

[Exeunt  all  the  Commoners. 
See,  whether  their  basest  metal  be  not  moved ; 
They  vanish  tongue-tied  in  their  guiltiness. 
Go  you  down  that  way  towards  the  Capitol ; 
This  way  will  I :   disrobe  the  images. 
If  you  do  find  them  deck'd  with  ceremonies. 

Mar.  May  we  do  so?  70 

You  know  it  is  the  feast  of  Lupercal. 

Flav.  It  is  no  matter  ;  let  no  images 

Be  hung  with  Caesar's  trophies.     I  '11  about, 

And  drive  away  the  vulgar  from  the  streets : 

So  do  you  too,  where  you  perceive  them  thick. 

These  growing  feathers  pluck'd  from  Caesar's  wing 

Will  make  him  fly  an  ordinary  pitch, 

Who  else  would  soar  above  the  view  of  men 

And  keep  us  all  in  servile  fearfulness.  [Exeunt. 


27 


Act  I.  Sc.  11.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Scene  II. 

A  public  place. 

Flourish.  Enter  Ccesar;  Antony,  for  the  course;  Calpurnia, 
Portia,  Decius,  Cicero,  Brutus,  Cassius,  and  Casca;  a 
great  crozvd  follozcing,  among  them  a  Soothsayer, 

Cccs.  Calpurnia! 

Casca.  Peace,  ho !   Csesar  speaks. 

{Music  ceases. 
Ccus.  Calpurnia ! 

Cal.  Here,  my  lord. 
Cccs.  Stand  you  directly  in  Antonius'  way, 

When  he  doth  run  his  course.     Antonius ! 
Ant.  Csesar,  my  lord? 
Cccs.  Forget  not,  in  your  speed,  Antonius, 

To  touch  Calpurnia ;    for  our  elders  say, 

The  barren,  touched  in  this  holy  chase, 

Shake  off  their  sterile  curse. 
Ant.  I  shall  remember: 

When  Csesar  says  '  do  this,'  it  is  perform'd.  lO 

Cces.  Set  on,  and  leave  no  ceremony  out.  [Flourish. 

Sooth.  Csesar! 
Ccus.  Ha !  who  calls  ? 

Casca.  Bid  every  noise  be  still :  peace  yet  again  ! 
Cccs.  Wlio  is  it  in  the  press  that  calls  on  me  ? 

I  hear  a  tongue,  shriller  than  all  the  music, 

Cry  '  Caesar.'     Speak  ;   Csesar  is  turn'd  to  hear. 
Sooth.  Beware  the  ides  of  Alarch. 
Cccs.  What  man  is  that  ? 

Bru.  A  soothsayer  bids  you  beware  the  ides  of  March. 
Cces.  Set  him  before  me ;   let  me  see  his  face.  20 

28 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  I.  Sc.  ii. 

Cas.  Fellow,  come  from  the  throng ;  look  upon  Caesar. 

Cccs.  What  say'st  thou  to  me  now  ?  speak  once  again. 

Sooth.  Beware  the  ides  of  March. 

Cccs.  He  is  a  dreamer  ;  let  us  leave  him  :  pass. 

[Sennet.     Exeunt  all  but  Brutus  and  Cassius, 

Cas.  Will  you  go  see  the  order  of  the  course  ? 

Bru.  Not  I. 

Cas.  I  pray  you,  do. 

Bru.  I  am  not  gamesome :   I  do  lack  some  part 
Of  that  quick  spirit  that  is  in  Antony. 
Let  me  not  hinder,  Cassius,  your  desires  ;  30 

I  '11  leave  you. 

Cas.  Brutus,  I  do  observe  you  now  of  late : 
I  have  not  from  your  eyes  that  gentleness 
And  show  of  love  as  I  was  wont  to  have : 
You  bear  too  stubborn  and  too  strange  a  hand 
Over  your  friend  that  loves  you. 

Bru.  Cassius, 

Be  not  deceived :    if  I  have  veil'd  my  look, 
I  turn  the  trouble  of  my  countenance 
Merely  upon  myself.     Vexed  I  am 
Of  late  with  passions  of  some  difference,  40 

Conceptions  only  proper  to  myself. 
Which  give  some  soil  perhaps  to  my  behaviours  ; 
But  let  not  therefore  my  good  friends  be  grieved — 
Among  which  number,  Cassius,  be  you  one — 
Nor  construe  any  further  my  neglect 
Than  that  poor  Brutus  with  himself  at  war 
Forgets  the  shows  of  love  to  other  men. 

Cas.  Then,  Brutus,  I  have  much  mistook  your  passion  : 
By  means  whereof  this  breast  of  mine  hath  buried 
Thoughts  of  great  value,  worthy  cogitations.  50 

29 


Act  I.  Sc.  ii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Tell  me,  good  Brutus,  can  you  see  your  face  ? 

Br II.  Xo,  Cassius ;   for  the  eye  sees  not  itself 
But  by  reflection,  by  some  other  things. 

Ccs.  'Tis  just : 

And  it  is  very  much  lamented,  Brutus, 

That  you  have  no  such  mirrors  as  will  turn 

Your  hidden  worthiness  into  your  eye, 

That  you  might  see  your  shadow.     I  have  heard 

Where  many  of  the  best  respect  in  Rome, 

Except  immortal  Caesar,  speaking  of  Brutus,  60 

And  groaning  underneath  this  age's  yoke. 

Have  wish'd  that  noble  Brutus  had  his  eyes. 

Bru.  Into  what  dangers  would  you  lead  me,  Cassius, 
That  you  would  have  me  seek  into  myself 
For  that  w^hich  is  not  in  me? 

Cas.  Therefore,  good  Brutus,  be  prepared  to  hear : 
And  since  you  know  you  cannot  see  yourself 
So  well  as  by  reflection,  I  your  glass 
Will  modestly  discover  to  yourself 
That  of  yourself  which  you  yet  know  not  of.  70 

And  be  not  jealous  on  me,  gentle  Brutus : 
Were  I  a  common  laugher,  or  did  use 
To  stale  with  ordinary  oaths  my  love 
To  every  new  protester ;  if  you  know 
That  I  do  fawn  on  men  and  hug  them  hard, 
And  after  scandal  them ;   or  if  you  know 
That  I  profess  myself  in  banqueting 
To  all  the  rout,  then  hold  me  dangerous. 

[Flourish  and  sJwiit. 

Bru.  What  means  this  shouting  ?    I  do  fear,  the  people 
Choose  Caesar  for  their  king. 

Cas,  Ay,  do  you  fear  it  ?       80 

30 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  I.  Sc.  ii. 

Then  must  I  think  you  would  not  have  it  so. 

Bru.  I  would  not,  Cassius,  yet  I  love  him  well. 

But  wherefore  do  you  hold  me  here  so  long? 

What  is  it  that  you  would  impart  to  me  ? 

If  it  be  aught  toward  the  general  good, 

Set  honour  in  one  eye  and  death  i'  the  other. 

And  I  will  look  on  both  indifferently : 

For  let  the  gods  so  speed  me  as  I  love 

The  name  of  honour  more  than  I  fear  death. 

Cos.  I  know  that  virtue  to  be  in  you,  Brutus,  90 

As  well  as  I  do  know  your  outward  favour. 
Well,  honour  is  the  subject  of  my  story. 
I  cannot  tell  what  you  and  other  men 
Think  of  this  life,  but,  for  my  single  self, 
I  had  as  lief  not  be  as  live  to  be 
In  awe  of  such  a  thing  as  I  myself. 
I  was  born  free  as  Caesar ;  so  were  you : 
We  both  have  fed  as  wxU,  and  we  can  both 
Endure  the  winter's  cold  as  well  as  he : 
For  once,  upon  a  raw  and  gusty  day,  100 

The  troubled  Tiber  chafing  with  her  shores, 
Caesar  said  to  me  '  Barest  thou,  Cassius,  now 
Leap  in  wnth  me  into  this  angry  flood. 
And  swim  to  yonder  point  ?  '    Upon  the  word, 
Accoutred  as  I  was,  I  plunged  in 
And  bade  him  follow :  so  indeed  he  did. 
The  torrent  roar'd,  and  we  did  buffet  it 
With  lusty  sinews,  throwing  it  aside 
And  stemming  it  with  hearts  of'  controversy ; 
But  ere  we  could  arrive  the  point  proposed,  no 

Caesar  cried  '  Help  me,  Cassius,  or  I  sink ! ' 
I,  as  ^neas  our  great  ancestor 
31 


Act.  I.  Sc.  ii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Did  from  the  flames  of  Troy  upon  his  shoulder 
The  old  Anchises  bear,  so  from  the  waves  of  Tiber 
Did  I  the  tired  Caesar :  and  this  man 
Is  now  become  a  god,  and  Cassius  is 
A  wretched  creature,  and  must  bend  his  body 
If  Caesar  carelessly  but  nod  on  him. 
He  had  a  fever  when  he  was  in  Spain, 
And  when  the  fit  was  on  him,  I  did  mark  120 

How  he  did  shake  :  'tis  true,  this  god  did  shake ; 
His  coward  lips  did  from  their  colour  fly, 
And  that  same  eye  whose  bend  doth  awe  the  world 
Did  lose  his  lustre :   I  did  hear  him  groan  : 
Ay,  and  that  tongue  of  his  that  bade  the  Romans 
Mark  him  and  write  his  speeches  in  their  books, 
Alas,  it  cried,  *  Give  me  some  drink,  Titinius,' 
As  a  sick  girl.    Ye  gods !   it  doth  amaze  me 
A  man  of  such  a  feeble  tem.per  should 
So  get  the  start  of  the  majestic  world  130 

I    And  bear  the  palm  alone.  [Shout.     Flourish. 

Brii.  Another  general  shout ! 

I  do  believe  that  these  applauses  are 

For  some  new  honours  that  are  heap'd  on  Caesar. 

Cas.  Why,  man,  he  doth  bestride  the  narrow  world 
Like  a  Colossus,  and  we  petty  men 
Walk  under  his  huge  legs  and  peep  about 
To  find  ourselves  dishonourable  graves. 
Men  at  some  time  are  masters  of  their  fates : 
The  fault,  dear  Brutus,  is  not  in  our  stars,  140 

But  in  ourselves,  that  we  are  underlings. 
Brutus,  and  Caesar :  what  should  be  in  that  Caesar  ? 
Why  should  that  name  be  sounded  more  than  yours  ? 
Write  them  together,  yours  is  as  fair  a  name ; 

32 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  I.  Sc.  ii. 

Sound  them,  it  doth  become  the  mouth  as  well ; 

Weigh  them,  it  is  as  heavy ;   conjure  with  'em, 

Brutus  will  start  a  spirit  as  soon  as  Csesar. 

Now,  in  the  names  of  all  the  gods  at  once, 

Upon  what  meat  doth  this  our  Caesar  feed, 

That  he  is  grown  so  great  ?     Age,  thou  art  shamed ! 

Rome,  thou  hast  lost  the  breed  of  noble  bloods !     151 

When  went  there  by  an  age,  since  the  great  flood, 

But  it  was  famed  with  more  than  with  one  man  ? 

When  could  they  say  till  now  that  talk'd  of  Rome 

That  her  wide  walls  encompass'd  but  one  man  ? 

Now  is  it  Rome  indeed,  and  room  enough, 

When  there  is  in  it  but  one  only  man. 

O,  you  and  I  have  heard  our  fathers  say 

There  was  a  Brutus  once  that  would  have  brook'd 

The  eternal  devil  to  keep  his  state  in  Rome  160 

As  easily  as  a  king. 

Bru.  That  you  do  love  me,  I  am  nothing  jealous ; 
What  you  would  work  me  to,  I  have  some  aim : 
How  I  have  thought  of  this  and  of  these  times, 
I  shall  recount  hereafter ;  for  this  present, 
I  would  not,  so  with  love  I  might  entreat  you. 
Be  any  further  moved.     What  you  have  said 
I  will  consider ;   what  you  have  to  say 
I  will  with  patience  hear,  and  find  a  time 
Both  meet  to  hear  and  answer  such  high  things.     170 
Till  then,  my  noble  friend,  chew  upon  this  : 
Brutus  had  rather  be  a  villager 
Than  to  repute  himself  a  son  of  Rome 
Under  these  hard  conditions  as  this  time 
Is  like  to  lay  upon  us. 

Cas.  I  am  glad  that  my  weak  words 

33 


Act  I.  Sc.  ii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Have  struck  but  thus  much  show  of  fire  from  Brutus. 

Bru.  The  games  are  done,  and  Caesar  is  returning. 

Cas.  As  they  pass  by,  pluck  Casca  by  the  sleeve ; 

And  he  will,  after  his  sour  fashion,  tell  you  i8o 

What  hath  proceeded  worthy  note  to-day. 

Re-enter  Cccsar  and  his  train. 

Bni.  I  will  do  so :  but,  look  you,  Cassius, 

The  angry  spot  doth  glow  on  Caesar's  brow, 
And  all  the  rest  look  like  a  chidden  train  : 
Calpurnia's  cheek  is  pale,  and  Cicero 
Looks  with  such  ferret  and  such  fiery  eyes 
As  we  have  seen  him  in  the  Capitol, 
Being  cross'd  in  conference  by  some  senators. 

Cas.  Casca  will  tell  us  what  the  matter  is. 

Cccs.  Antonius !  190 

Ant.  Caesar? 

Cces.  Let  me  have  men  about  me  that  are  fat. 

Sleek-headed  men,  and  such  as  sleep  o'  nights: 
Yond  Cassius  has  a  lean  and  hungry  look ; 
He  thinks  too  much :   such  men  are  dangerous. 

Ant.  Fear  him  not,  Caesar;  he  's  not  dangerous  ; 
He  is  a  noble  Roman,  and  well  given. 

Cccs.  \\'ould  lie  were  fatter  !  but  I  fear  him  not : 
Yet  if  my  name  were  liable  to  fear, 
I  do  not  know  the  man  I  should  avoid  2CO 

So  soon  as  that  spare  Cassius.    He  reads  much ; 
He  is  a  great  observer,  and  he  looks 
Quite  through  the  deeds  of  men :   he  loves  no  plays. 
As  thou  dost,  Antony  ;  he  hears  no  music : 
Seldom  he  smiles,  and  smiles  in  such  a  sort 
As  if  he  mock'd  himself,  and  scorn'd  his  spirit 

34 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  I.  Sc.  ii. 

That  could  be  moved  to  smile  at  any  thing. 

Such  men  as  he  be  never  at  heart's  ease 

Whiles  they  behold  a  greater  than  themselves, 

And  therefore  are  they  very  dangerous.  210 

I  rather  tell  thee  what  is  to  be  fear'd 

Than  what  I  fear ;   for  always  I  am  Csesar. 

Come  on  my  right  hand,  for  this  ear  is  deaf, 

And  tell  me  truly  what  thou  think'st  of  him. 

[Sennet.     Exeunt  Cccsar  and  all 
his  train  but  Casca. 

Casca.  You  pull'd  me  by  the  cloak  ;  would  you  speak  with 
me? 

Bru.  Ay,  Casca ;  tell  us  what  hath  chanced  to-day. 
That  Caesar  looks  so  sad. 

Casca.  Why,  you  were  with  him,  were  you  not  ? 

Bru.  I  should  not  then  ask  Casca  what  had  chanced. 

Casca.  Why,  there  was  a  crown  offered  him :    and  220 
being  offered  him,  he  put  it  by  with  the  back  of 
hishand,thus  :  and  then  the  people  fell  a-shouting. 

Bru.  What  was  the  second  noise  for  ? 

Casca.  Why,  for  that  too. 

Cas.  They  shouted  thrice :  what  was  the  last  cry  for  ? 

Casca.  Why,  for  that  too. 

Bru.  Was  the  crown  offered  him  thrice? 

Casca.  Ay,  marry,  was  't,  and  he  put  it  by  thrice, 
every  time  gentler  than  other ;  and  at  every  put- 
ting by  mine  honest  neighbours  shouted.  230 

Cas.  Who  offered  him  the  crown  ? 

Casca.  Why,  Antony. 

Bru.  Tell  us  the  manner  of  it,  gentle  Casca. 

Casca.  I  can  as  well  be  hang'd  as  tell  the  manner  of 
it:    it  was  mere  foolery;   I  did  not  mark  it.     I 

35 


Act  I.  Sc.  ii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

saw  Mark  Antony  offer  him  a  crown :  yet  'twas 
not  a  crown  neither,  'twas  one  of  these  coronets : 
and,  as  I  told  yon,  he  put  it  by  once :  but  for 
all  th.at,  to  my  thinking,  he  would  fain  have  had 
it.  Then  he  offered  it  to  him  again ;  then  he  240 
put  it  by  again  :  but,  to  my  thinking,  he  was  very 
loath  to  lay  his  fingers  off  it.  And  then  he  offered 
it  the  third  time  ;  he  put  it  the  third  time  by  :  and 
still  as  he  refused  it,  the  rabblement  hooted  and 
clapped  their  chopped  hands  and  threw  up  their 
sweaty  night-caps  and  uttered  such  a  deal  of 
stinking  breath  because  Cresar  refused  the  crown, 
that  it  had  almost  choked  Caesar  ;  for  he  swounded 
and  fell  down  at  it :  and  for  mine  own  part,  I 
durst  not  laugh,  for  fear  of  opening  my  lips  and  250 
receiving  the  bad  air. 

Cas.  But,  soft,  I  pray  you  :  what,  did  Caesar  s wound  ? 

Casca.  He  fell  down  in  the  market-place  and  foamed 
at  mouth  and  was  speechless. 

Brn.  'Tis  very  like :  he  hath  the  falling-sickness. 

Ca^.  No,  Csesar  hath  it  not :  but  you,  and  I, 

And  honest  Casca,  we  have  the  falling-sickness. 

Casca.  I  know  not  what  you  mean  by  that,  but  I  am 
sure  Caesar  fell  down.    If  the  tag-rag  people  did 
not  clap  him  and  hiss  him  according  as  he  pleased  260 
and  displeased  them,  as  they  use  to  do  the  players 
in  the  theatre,  I  am  no  true  man. 

Bru.  What  said  he  when  he  came  unto  himself? 

Casca.  Marry,  before  he  fell  down,  when  He  perceived 

the  common  herd  was  glad  he  refused  the  crown, 

he  plucked  me  ope  his  doublet  and  offered  them 

his  throat  to  cut.    An  I  had  been  a  man  of  any 

36 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  I.  Sc.  ii. 

occupation,  if  I  would  not  have  taken  him  at  a 
word,  I  would  I  might  go  to  hell  among  the 
rogues.  And  so  he  fell.  When  he  came  to  2yQ^ 
himself  again,  he  said,  if  he  had  done  or  said  any 
thing  amiss,  he  desired  their  worships  to  think  it 
was  his  infirmity.  Three  or  four  wenches,  where 
I  stood,  cried  '  Alas,  good  soul !  '  and  forgave 
him  with  all  their  hearts  :  but  there  's  no  heed  to 
be  taken  of  them ;  if  Caesar  had  stabbed  their 
mothers,  they  would  have  done  no  less. 

Bru.  And  after  that,  he  came,  thus  sad,  away? 

Casca.  Ay. 

Cas.  Did  Cicero  say  any  thing  ?  280 

Casca.  Ay,  he  spoke  Greek. 

Cas.  To  what  effect  ? 

Casca.  Nay,  an  I  tell  you  that,  I  '11  ne'er  look  you  i' 
the  face  again  :  but  those  that  understood  him 
smiled  at  one  another  and  shook  their  heads ; 
but  for  mine  own  part,  it  was  Greek  to  me.  I 
could  tell  you  more  news  too :  MaruUus  and 
Flavins,  for  pulling  scarfs  ofif  Caesar's  images, 
are  put  to  silence.  Fare  you  well.  There  was 
more  foolery  yet,  if  I  could  remember  it.  290 

Cas.  Will  you  sup  with  me  to-night,  Casca? 

Casca.  No,  I  am  promised  forth. 

Cas:  W^ill  you  dine  with  me  to-morrow  ? 

Casca.  Ay,  if  I  be  alive,  and  your  mind  hold,  and  your 
dinner  worth  the  eating. 

Cas.  Good  ;   I  Avill  expect  you. 

Casca.  Do  so:    farewell,  both.  [Exit. 

Brii.  What  a  blunt  fellow  is  this  grown  to  be ! 
He  was  quick  metal  when  he  went  to  school. 

37 


Act  I.  Sc.  ii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Cas.   So  is  he  now  in  execution  300 

Of  any  bold  or  noble  enterprise, 
However  he  puts  on  this  tardy  form. 
This  rudeness  is  a  sauce  to  his  good  wit, 
Which  g'ives  men  stomach  to  digest  his  words 
With  better  appetite. 

Bru.  And  so  it  is.     For  this  time  I  will  leave  you : 
To-morrow,  if  you  please  to  speak  with  me, 
I  will  come  home  to  you,  or,  if  you  will. 
Come  home  to  me  and  I  will  wait  for  you. 

Cas.  I  will  do  so:   till  then,  tnink  of  the  world.  310 

[Exit  Brutus. 
Well,  Brutus,  thou  art  noble ;  yet,  I  see. 
Thy  honourable  metal  may  be  wrought 
From  that  it  is  disposed :  therefore,  it  is  meet 
That  noble  minds  keep  ever  with  their  likes; 
For  who  so  firm  that  cannot  be  seduced  ? 
Caesar  doth  bear  me  hard ;  but  he  loves  Brutus : 
If  I  were  Brutus  now  and  he  were  Cassius, 
He  should  not  humour  me.    I  will  this  night, 
In  several  hands,  in  at  his  windows  throw, 
As  if  they  came  from  several  citizens,  320 

Writings,  all  tending  to  the  great  opinion 
That  Rome  holds  of  his  name,  wherein  obscurely 
Caesar's  ambition  shall  be  glanced  at : 
And  after  this  let  Caesar  seat  him  sure ; 
For  we  will  shake  him,  or  worse  days  endure. 

[Exit. 


S-i- 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  I.  Sc.  iii. 

Scene  III. 

A  street. 

Thunder  and  Lightning.  Enter,  from  opposite  sides,  Casca, 
zvith  his  szcord  dranni,  and  Cicero, 

Cic.  Good  even,  Casca :   brought  you  Caesar  home  ? 
Why  are  you  breathless  ?  and  why  stare  you  so  ? 

Casca.  Are  not  you  moved,  when  all  the  sway  of  earth 
Shakes  like  a  thing  unfirm  ?    O  Cicero, 
I  have  seen  tempests,  when  the  scolding  winds 
Have  rived  the  knotty  oaks,  and  I  have  seen 
The  ambitious  ocean  swell  and  rage  and  foam, 
To  be  exalted  with  the  threatening  clouds ; 
But  never  till  to-night,  never  till  now. 
Did  I  go  through  a  tempest  dropping  fire.  lo 

Either  there  is  a  civil  strife  in  heaven. 
Or  else  the  world  too  saucy  with  the  gods 
Incenses  them  to  send  destruction. 

Cic.  Why,  saw  you  any  thing  more  wonderful  ? 

Casca.  A  common  slave — you  know  him  well  by  sight — 
Held  up  his  left  hand,  which  did  flame  and  burn 
Like  twenty  torches  join'd,  and  yet  his  hand 
Not  sensible  of  fire  remain'd  unscorch'd. 
Besides — I  ha'  not  since  put  up  my  sword — 
Against  the  Capitol  I  met  a  lion,  20 

Who  glazed  upon  me  and  went  surly  by 
Without  annoying  me :  and  there  were  drawn 
Upon  a  heap  a  hundred  ghastly  women 
Transformed  with  their  fear,  who  swore  they  saw 
Men  all  in  fire  walk  up  and  down  the  streets. 
And  yesterday  the  bird  of  night  did  sit 

.^9 


Act  I.  Sc.  iii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Even  at  noon-day  upon  the  market-place, 

Hooting-  and  shrieking.    When  these  prodigies 

Do  so  conjointly  meet,  let  not  men  say 

*  These  are  their  reasons  :  they  are  natural ' :  30 

For,  I  believe,  they  are  portentous  things 

Unto  the  climate  that  they  point  upon. 

Cic.  Indeed,  it  is  a  strange-disposed  time : 

But  men  may  construe  things  after  their  fashion, 
Clean  from  the  purpose  of  the  things  themselves. 
Comes  C?esar  to  the  Capitol  to-morrow  ? 

Casca.  He  doth  ;   for  he  did  bid  Antonius 

Send  word  to  you  he  would  be  there  to-morrow. 

Cic.  Good  night  then,  Casca :   this  disturbed  sky 
Is  not  to  walk  in. 

Casca.  Farewell,  Cicero.     [Exit  Cicero.  40 

Enter  Cassius. 
Cas.  Who  's  there  ? 
Casca.  A  Roman. 

Cas.  Casca,  by  your  voice. 

Casca.  Your  ear  is  good.    Cassius,  what  night  is  this  ! 
Cas.  A  very  pleasing  night  to  honest  men. 
Casca.  Who  ever  knew  the  heavens  menace  so  ? 
Cas.  Those  that  have  known  the  earth  so  full  of  faults. 

For  my  part,  I  have  walk'd  about  the  streets, 

Submitting  me  unto  the  perilous  night, 

And  thus  unbraced,  Casca,  as  you  see, 

Have  bared  my  bosom  to  the  thunder-stone ; 

And  when  the  cross  blue  lightning  seem'd  to  open 

The  breast  of  heaven,  I  did  present  myself  51 

Even  in  the  aim  and  very  flash  of  it. 
Casca.  But  wherefore  did  you  so  much  tempt  the  heavens  ? 

40 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  I.  Sc.  iii. 

It  is  the  part  of  men  to  fear  and  tremble 
When  the  most  mighty  gods  by  tokens  send 
Such  dreadful  heralds  to  astonish  us. 

Cas.  You  are  dull,  Casca,  and  those  sparks  of  life 
That  should  be  in  a  Roman  you  do  want, 
Or  else  you  use  not.    You  look  pale  and  gaze 
And  put  on  fear  and  cast  yourself  in  wonder,  60 

To  see  the  strange  impatience  of  the  heavens : 
But  if  you  would  consider  the  true  cause 
Why  all  these  fires,  why  all  these  gliding  ghosts, 
Why  birds  and  beasts  from  quality  and  kind. 
Why  old  men  fool  and  children  calculate, 
Why  all  these  things  change  from  their  ordinance, 
Their  natures  and  preformed  faculties, 
To  monstrous  quality,  why,  you  shall  find 
That  heaven  hath  infused  them  with  these  spirits 
To  make  them  instruments  of  fear  and  warning       70 
Unto  some  monstrous  state. 
Now  could  I,  Casca,  name  to  thee  a  man 
Most  like  this  dreadful  night. 
That  thunders,  lightens,  opens  graves,  and  roars 
As  doth  the  lion  in  the  Capitol,    , 
A  man  no  mightier  than  thyself  or  me 
In  personal  action,  yet  prodigious  grown 
And  fearful,  as  these  strange  eruptions  are. 

Casca.  'Tis  Caesar  that  you  mean  ;  is  it  not,  Cassius  ? 

Cas.  Let  it  be  who  it  is :  for  Romans  now  80 

Have  thews  and  limbs  like  to  their  ancestors ; 
But,  woe  the  while !   our  fathers'  minds  are  dead, 
And  we  are  govern'd  with  our  mothers'  spirits  ; 
Our  yoke  and  sufferance  show  us  womanish. 

Casca,  Indeed  they  say  the  senators  to-morrow 

41 


Act  I.Sc.  Hi.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Mean  to  establish  Caesar  as  a  king; 

And  he  shall  wear  his  crown  by  sea  and  land, 

In  every  place  save  here  in  Italy. 

Cas.  I  know  where  I  will  wear  this  dagger  then  : 

Cassius  from  bondage  will  deliver  Cassius.  90 

Therein,  ye  gods,  you  make  the  weak  most  strong ; 

Therein,  ye  gods,  you  tyrants  do  defeat : 

Nor  stony  tower,  nor  walls  of  beaten  brass, 

Nor  airless  dungeon,  nor  strong  links  of  iron, 

Can  be  retentive  to  the  strength  of  spirit ; 

But  life,  being  weary  of  these  worldly  bars, 

Never  lacks  power  to  dismiss  itself. 

If  I  know  this,  know  all  the  world  besides. 

That  part  of  tyranny  that  I  do  bear 

I  can  shake  off  at  pleasure.  [Thunder  still. 

Case  a.  So  can  1 :  100 

So  every  bondman  in  his  own  hand  bears 
The  power  to  cancel  his  captivity. 

Cas.  And  why  should  Caesar  be  a  tyrant  then  ? 
Poor  man  !    I  know  he  would  not  be  a  wolf 
But  that  he  sees  the  Romans  are  but  sheep : 
He  were  no  lion,  were  not  Romans  hinds. 
Those  that  with  haste  will  make  a  mighty  fire 
Begin  it  with  weak  straws  :  what  trash  is  Rome, 
What  rubbish  and  what  offal,  when  it  serves 
For  the  base  matter  to  illuminate  no 

So  vile  a  thing  as  Caesar !     But,  O  grief. 
Where  hast  thou  led  me  ?  I  perhaps  speak  this 
Before  a  willing  bondman ;  then  I  know 
My  answer  must  be  made.    But  I  am  arm'd. 
And  dangers  are  to  me  indifferent. 

Casea,  You  speak  to  Casca,  and  to  such  a  man 

42 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  I.  Sc.  iii. 

That  is  no  fleering  tell-tale.     Hold,  my  hand : 
Be  factious  for  redress  of  all  these  griefs, 
And  I  will  set  this  foot  of  mine  as  far 
As  who  goes  farthest. 

Cas.  There's  a  bargain  made.       120 

Now  know  you,  Casca,  I  have  moved  already 
Some  certain  of  the  noblest-minded  Romans 
To  undergo  with  me  an  enterprise 
Of  honourable-dangerous  consequence ; 
And  I  do  know,  by  this  they  stay  for  me 
In  Pompey's  porch  :  for  now,  this  fearful  night, 
There  is  no  stir  or  walking  in  the  streets, 
And  the  complexion  of  the  element 
In  favour  's  like  the  work  we  have  in  hand, 
Most  bloody,  fiery,  and  most  terrible.  130 

Enter  China. 

Casca.  Stand  close  awhile,  for  here  comes  one  in  haste. 
Cas.  'Tis  Cinna ;   I  do  know  him  by  his  gait ; 

He  is  a  friend.     Cinna,  where  haste  you  so? 
Cin.  To  find  out  you.     Who  's  that?   Metellus  Cimber? 
Cas.  No,  it  is  Casca;   one  incorporate 

To  our  attempts.    Am  I  not  stay'd  for,  Cinna  ? 
Cin.  I  am  glad  on  't.    What  a  fearful  night  is  this ! 

There  's  two  or  three  of  us  have  seen  strange  sights. 
Cas.  Am  I  not  stay'd  for  ?  tell  me. 
Cin.  Yes,  you  are. 

O  Cassius,  if  you  conld  140 

But  win  the  noble  Brutus  to  our  party — 
Cas.  Be  you  content :  good  Cinna,  take  this  paper. 

And  look  you  lay  it  in  the  praetor's  chair, 

Where  Brutus  may  but  find  it,  and  throw  this 

43 


Act  II.  Sc.  i.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

In  at  his  window ;  set  this  up  with  wax 

Upon  old  Brutus'  statue  :  all  this  done, 

Repair  to  Pompey's  porch,  where  you  shall  find  us. 

Is  Decius  Brutus  and  Trebonius  there? 
Ciii.  All  but  ^Metellus  Cimber  ;  and  he  's  gone 

To  seek  you  at  your  house.     Well,  I  will  hie,         150 

And  so  bestow  these  papers  as  you  bade  me. 
Cos.  That  done,  repair  to  Pompey's  theatre.    [Exit  Cinna. 

Come,  Casca,  you  and  I  will  yet  ere  day 

See  Brutus  at  his  house :  three  parts  of  him 

Is  ours  already,  and  the  man  entire 

Upon  the  next  encounter  yields  him  ours. 
Casca.  O,  he  sits  high  in  all  the  people's  hearts ; 

And  that  which  would  appear  offence  in  us 

His  countenance,  like  richest  alchemy, 

Will  change  to  virtue  and  to  worthiness.  160 

Cos.  Him  and  his  worth  and  our  great  need  of  him 

You  have  right  well  conceited.    Let  us  go, 

For  it  is  after  midnight,  and  ere  day 

We  will  awake  him  and  be  sure  of  him.         [Exeunt. 

ACT  SECOND. 
Scene  I. 

Rome.     Bnttus's  orchard. 
Enter  Brutus. 

Bru.  What,  Lucius,  ho! 

I  cannot,  by  the  progress  of  the  stars, 

Give  guess  how  near  to  day.    Lucius,  I  say  ! 

I  would  it  were  my  fault  to  sleep  so  soundly. 

When,  Lucius,  when  ?  awake,  I  say !  what,  Lucius ! 

44 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  II.  Sc.  i. 

Enter  Lucius. 

Luc.  Call'd  you,  my  lord  ? 

Bru.  Get  me  a  taper  in  my  study,  Lucius : 

When  it  is  lighted,  come  and  call  me  here. 

Luc.  I  will,  my  lord.  [Exit. 

Bru.  It  must  be  by  his  death  :  and,  for  my  part,  lo 

I  know  no  personal  cause  to  spurn  at  him. 
But  for  the  general.     He  would  be  crown'd  : 
How    that    might    change   his    nature,    there 's    the 

question : 
It  is  the  bright  day  that  brings  forth  the  adder ; 
And   that    craves    wary    walking.      Crown    him? — 

that  ;— 
And  then,  I  grant,  we  put  a  sting  in  him, 
That  at  his  will  he  may  do  danger  with. 
The  abuse  of  greatness  is  when  it  disjoins 
Remorse  from  power :  and,  to  speak  truth  of  Caesar, 
I  have  not  known  when  his  affections  sway'd  20 

More  than  his  reason.    But  'tis  a  common  proof, 
That  lowliness  is  young  ambition's  ladder. 
Whereto  the  climber-upward  turns  his  face ; 
But  when  he  once  attains  the  upmost  round. 
He  then  unto  the  ladder  turns  his  back. 
Looks  in  the  clouds,  scorning  the  base  degrees 
By  which  he  did  ascend :   so  Caesar  may ; 
Then,  lest  he  may,  prevent.    And,  since  the  quarrel 
Will  bear  no  colour  for  the  thing  he  is. 
Fashion  it  thus  ;  that  what  he  is,  augmented,  30 

Would  run  to  these  and  these  extremities : 
And  therefore  think  him  as  a  serpent's  o^gg 
Which  hatch'd  would  as  his  kind  grow  mischievous. 
And  kill  him  in  the  shell. 

45 


Act  II.  Sc.  i.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Re-enter  Lucius. 

Luc.  The  taper  burneth  in  your  closet,  sir. 
Searching  the  window  for  a  flint  I  found 
This  paper  thus  seal'd  up,  and  I  am  sure 
It  did  not  He  there  when  I  went  to  bed. 

[Gives  him  the  letter. 

Bru.  Get  you  to  bed  again ;  it  is  not  day. 

Is  not  to-morrow,  boy,  the  ides  of  March  ?  40 

Luc.  I  know  not,  sir. 

Bru.  Look  in  the  calendar  and  bring  me  word. 

Luc.  I  will,  sir.  [Exit. 

Bru.  The  exhalations  whizzing  in  the  air 

Give  so  much  light  that  I  may  read  by  them. 

[Opens  the  letter  and  reads. 
'  Brutus,  thou  sleep'st :  awake  and  see  thyself. 
Shall  Rome,  &c.     Speak,  strike,  redress. 
Brutus,  thou  sleep'st:   awake.' 
Such  instigations  have  been  often  dropp'd 
Where  I  have  took  them  up.  50 

'  Shall  Rome,  &c.'    Thus  must  I  piece  it  out : 
Shall  Rome  stand  under  one  man's   awe?     What, 

Rome? 
My  ancestors  did  from  the  streets  of  Rome 
The  Tarquin  drive,  when  he  was  call'd  a  king. 
'  Speak,  strike,  redress.'    Am  I  entreated 
To  speak  and  strike  ?    O  Rome,  I  make  thee  promise, 
If  the  redress  will  follow,  thou  receivest 
Thy  full  petition  at  the  hand  of  Brutus! 

Re-enter  Lucius. 
Luc.  Sir,  March  is  wasted  fifteen  days.  [Knocking  within, 

46 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  11.  Sc.  i. 

Bni.  'Tis  g-ood.    Go  to  tlie  gate  ;  somebody  knocks.       60 

[Exit  Lucius. 
Since  Cassiiis  first  did  whet  me  against  Caesar 
I  have  not  slept. 

Between  the  acting  of  a  dreadful  thing 
And  the  first  motion,  all  the  interim  is 
Like  a  phantasma  or  a  hideous  dream : 
The  Genius  and  the  mortal  instruments 
Are  then  in  council,  and  the  state  of  man, 
Like  to  a  little  kingdom,  suffers  then 
The  nature  of  an  insurrection. 

Re-enter  Lucius. 

Luc.  Sir,  'tis  your  brother  Cassius  at  the  door,  70 

Who  doth  desire  to  see  you. 

Bru.  Is  he  alone? 

Luc.  No,  sir,  there  are  moe  with  him. 

Bru.  Do  you  know  them  ? 

Ltic.  No,  sir ;  their  hats  are  pluck'd  about  their  ears, 
And  half  their  faces  buried  in  their  cloaks, 
That  by  no  means  I  may  discover  them 
By  any  mark  of  favour. 

Bru.  Let  'em  enter.  [Exit  Lucius. 

They  are  the  faction.    O  conspiracy, 
Shamest    thou    to    show    thy    dangerous    brow    by 

night. 
When  evils  are  most  free?    O,  then,  by  day 
Where  wilt  thou  find  a  cavern  dark  enough  So 

To  mask  thy  monstrous  visage?     Seek  none,  con- 
spiracy ; 
Hide  it  in  smiles  and  affability : 
For  if  thou  path,  thy  native  semblance  on, 

47 


Act  11.  Sc.  i  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Not  Erebus  itself  were  dim  enough 
To  hide  thee  from  prevention. 

Enter  the  conspirators,  Cassuis,  Casca,  Decins,  Cinna, 
MeteUus  Chnhcr  and  Trebonius. 

Cas.  I  think  we  are  too  bold  upon  your  rest : 

Good  morrow,  Brutus :   do  we  trouble  you  ? 
Bru.  I  have  been  up  this  hour,  awake  all  night. 

Know  I  these  men  that  come  along  with  you? 
Cas.  Yes,  every  man  of  them ;  and  no  man  here  90 

But  honours  you  ;  and  every  one  doth  wish 

You  had  but  that  opinion  of  yourself 

Which  every  noble  Roman  bears  of  you. 

This  is  Trebonius. 
Brii.  He  is  welcome  hither. 

Cas.  This,  Decius  Brutus. 
Bru.  He  is  welcome  too. 

Cas.  This,  Casca  ;  this,  Cinna  ;  and  this,  Metellus  Cimber. 
Bru,  They  are  all  welcome. 

What  watchful  cares  do  interpose  themselves 

Betwixt  your  eyes  and  night? 
Cas.  Shall  I  entreat  a  word?  [They  whisper.     100 

Dec.  Here  lies  the  east :  doth  not  the  day  break  here? 
Casca.  No. 
Cin.  O,  pardon,  sir,  it  doth,  and  yon  grey  lines 

That  fret  the  clouds  are  messengers  of  day. 
Casca.  You  shall  confess  that  you  are  both  deceived. 

Here,  as  I  point  my  sword,  the  sun  arises ; 

Which  is  a  great  way  growing  on  the  south. 

Weighing  the  youthful  season  of  the  year. 

Some  two  months  hence  up  higher  toward  the  north 

He  first  presents  his  fire,  and  the  high  east  1 10 

48 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  II.  Sc.  i. 

Stands  as  the  Capitol,  directly  here. 

Bni.  Give  me  your  hands  all  over,  one  by  one. 

Cas.  And  let  us  swear  our  resolution. 

Bni.  Xo,  not  an  oath :   if  not  the  face  of  men, 

The  sufferance  of  our  souls,  the  time's  abuse, — 

If  these  be  motives  weak,  break  off  betimes, 

And  every  man  hence  to  his  idle  bed ; 

So  let  high-sighted  tyranny  range  on 

Till  each  man  drop  by  lottery.    But  if  these, 

As  I  am  sure  they  do,  bear  fire  enough  120 

To  kindle  cowards  and  to  steel  with  valour 

The  melting  spirits  of  women,  then,  countrymen, 

What  need  we  any  spur  but  our  own  cause 

To  prick  us  to  redress  ?  what  other  bond 

Than  secret  Romans  that  have  spoke  the  word, 

And  will  not  palter?  and  what  other  oath 

Than  honesty  to  honesty  engaged 

That  this  shall  be  or  we  will  fall  for  it  ? 

Swear  priests  and  cowards  and  men  cautelous. 

Old  feeble  carrions  and  such  suffering  souls  130 

That  welcome  wrongs  ;  unto  bad  causes  swear 

Such  creatures  as  men  doubt :  but  do  not  stain 

The  even  virtue  of  our  enterprise, 

Nor  the  insuppressive  mettle  of  our  spirits, 

To  think  that  or  our  cause  or  our  performance 

Did  need  an  oath ;  when  every  drop  of  blood 

That  every  Roman  bears,  and  nobly  bears, 

Is  guilty  of  a  several  bastardy 

If  he  do  break  the  smallest  particle 

Of  any  promise  that  hath  passM  from  him.  140 

Cas.  But  what  of  Cicero  ?  shall  we  sound  him  ? 
I  think  he  will  stand  very  strong  with  us. 

.49 


Act  II.  Sc.  1.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Casca.  Let  us  not  leave  him  out. 

Cin.  No,  by  no  means'. 

Met.  O,  let  us  have  him,  for  his  silver  hairs 
Will  purchase  us  a  good  opinion. 
And  buy  men's  voices  to  commend  our  deeds : 
It  shall  be  said  his  judgement  ruled  our  hands ; 
Our  youths  and  wildness  shall  no  whit  appear, 
But  all  be  buried  in  his  gravity. 

BriL  O,  name  him  not :  let  us  not  break  with  him,         150 
For  he  will  never  follow  any  thing 
That  other  men  begin. 

Cas.  Then  leave  him  out. 

Casca.  Indeed  he  is  not  fit. 

Dec.  Shall  no  man  else  be  touch'd  but  only  Caesar  ? 

Cas.  Decius,  well  urged :   I  think  it  is  not  meet 
Mark  Antony,  so  well  beloved  of  Caesar, 
Should  outlive  Caesar :  we  shall  find  of  him 
A  shrewd  contriver ;  and  you  know  his  means, 
If  he  improve  them,  may  well  stretch  so  far 
As  to  annoy  us  all:   which  to  prevent,  160 

Let  Antony  and  Caesar  fall  together. 

Bru,  Our  course  will  seem  too  bloody,  Caius  Cassius, 
To  cut  the  head  off  and  then  hack  the  limbs, 
Like  wrath  in  death  and  envy  afterwards ; 
For  Antony  is  but  a  limb  of  Caesar : 
Let  us  be  sacrificers,  but  not  butchers,  Caius. 
We  all  stand  up  against  the  spirit  of  Caesar, 
And  in  the  spirit  of  men  there  is  no  blood : 
O,  that  we  then  could  come  by  Caesar's  spirit. 
And  not  dismember  Caesar?    But,  alas,  170 

Caesar  must  bleed  for  it!     And,  gentle  friends, 
Let 's  kill  him  boldly,  but  not  wrathfuUy ; 

50 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  II.  Sc.  i. 

Let 's  carve  him  as  a  dish  fit  for  the  gods, 

Not  hew  him  as  a  carcass  fit  for  hounds : 

And  let  our  hearts,  as  subtle  masters  do, 

Stir  up  their  servants  to  an  act  of  rage 

And  after  seem  to  chide  'em.     This  shall  make 

Our  purpose  necessary  and  not  envious : 

Which  so  appearing-  to  the  common  eyes, 

We  shall  be  call'd  purgers,  not  murderers.  i8o 

And  for  Mark  Antony,  think  not  of  him; 

For  he  can  do  no  more  than  Caesar's  arm 

W^hen  Caesar's  head  is  ofT. 

Cas.  Yet  I  fear  him. 

For  in  the  ingrafted  love  he  bears  to  Caesar — 

Bi'u.  Alas,  good  Cassius,  do  not  think  of  him : 
If  he  love  C^sar,  all  that  he  can  do 
Is  to  himself,  take  thought  and  die  for  Caesar : 
And  that  were  much  he  should,  for  he  is  given 
To  sports,  to  wildness  and  much  company. 

Treb.  There  is  no  fear  in  him  ;  let  him  not  die  ;  190 

For  he  will  live  and  laugh  at  this  hereafter. 

[Clock  strikes, 

Brit.  Peace!   count  the  clock. 

Cas.  The  clock  hath  stricken  three. 

Treb.  'Tis  time  to  part. 

Cas.  But  it  is  doubtful  yet 

Whether  Caesar  will  come  forth  to-day  or  no ; 

For  he  is  superstitious  grown  of  late. 

Quite  from  the  main  opinion  he  held  once 

Of  fantasy,  of  dreams  and  ceremonies : 

It  may  be  these  apparent  prodigies, 

The  unaccustom'd  terror  of  this  night 

And  the  persuasion  of  his  augurers,  200 

51 


Act  II.  Sc.  i.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

May  hold  him  from  the  Capitol  to-day. 

Dec.  Never  fear  that :  if  he  be  so  resolved, 
I  can  o'ersway  him ;   for  he  loves  to  hear 
That  unicorns  may  be  betray'd  with  trees 
And  bears  with  glasses,  elephants  with  holes, 
Lions  with  toils  and  men  with  flatterers. 
But  when  I  tell  him  he  hates  flatterers. 
He  says  he  does,  being  then  most  flattered. 
Let  mie  work  ; 

For  I  can  give  his  humour  the  true  bent,  210 

And  I  will  bring  him  to  the  Capitol. 

Cas.  Nay,  we  will  all  of  us  be  there  to  fetch  him. 

Brn.  By  the  eighth  hour:   is  that  the  uttermost? 

Cin.  Be  that  the  uttermost,  and  fail  not  then. 

Met.  Caius  Ligarius  doth  bear  Caesar  hard, 

Who  rated  him  for  speaking  well  of  Pompey: 
I  wonder  none  of  you  have  thought  of  him. 

Brn.  Now,  good  Metellus,  go  along  by  him : 

He  loves  me  well,  and  I  have  given  him  reasons  ; 
Send  him  but  hither,  and  I  '11  fashion  him.  220 

Cas.  The  morning  comes  upon's  :  we  '11  leave  you,  Brutus : 
And,  friends,  disperse  yourselves :  but  all  remember 
What  you  have  said  and  show  yourselves  true  Romans. 

Brii.  Good  gentlemen,  look  fresh  and  merrily; 
Let  not  our  looks  put  on  our  purposes ; 
But  bear  it- as  our  Roman  actors  do. 
With  untired  spirits  and  formal  constancy : 
And  so,  good  morrow  to  you  every  one. 

[Exeunt  all  hut  Brutus. 
Boy  !     Lucius  !     Fast  asleep !     It  is  no  matter  ; 
Enjoy  the  honey-heavy  dew  of  slumber:  230 

Thou  hast  no  figures  nor  no  fantasies, 

52 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  II.  Sc.  i. 

Which  busy  care  draws  in  the  brains  of  men ; 
Therefore  thou  sleep'st  so  sound. 

Enter  Portia. 
Pq^^  Brutus,  my  lord ! 

Bru.  Portia,  what  mean  you  ?  wherefore  rise  you  now  ? 
It  is  not  for  your  health  thus  to  commit 
Your  weak  condition  to  the  raw  cold  morning. 

Por.  Nor  for  yours  neither.     You  've  ungently,  Brutus, 
Stole  from  my  bed :   and  yesternight  at  supper 
You  suddenly  arose  and  walk'd  about, 
Musing  and  sighing,  with  your  arms  across ;         240 
And  when  I  ask'd  you  what  the  matter  was, 
You  stared  upon  me  with  ungentle  looks  : 
I  urged  you  further ;   then  you  scratch'd  your  head, 
And  too  impatiently  stamp'd  with  your  foot : 
Yet  I  insisted,  yet  you  answer'd  not. 
But  with  an  angry  wafture  of  your  hand 
Gave  sign  for  me  to  leave  you :   so  I  did. 
Fearing  to  strengthen  that  impatience 
Which  seem'd  too  much  enkindled,  and  withal 
Hoping  it  was  but  an  effect  of  humour,  250 

Which  sometime  hath  his  hour  with  every  man. 
It  will  not  let  you  eat,  nor  talk,  nor  sleep. 
And,  could  it  work  so  much  upon  your  shape 
As  it  hath  much  prevail'd  on  your  condition, 
I  should  not  know  you,  Brutus.     Dear  my  lord, 
IMake  me  acquainted  with  your  cause  of  grief. 

Bru.  I  am  not  well  in  health,  and  that  is  all. 

Por.  Brutus  is  wise,  and,  were  he  not  in  health, 
He  would  embrace  the  means  to  come  by  it. 

Bru.  Why,  so  I  do :   good  Portia,  go  to  bed.  260 

53 


Act  II.  Sc.  1.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Por.  Is  Brutus  sick,  and  Is  it  physical 

To  walk  unbraced  and  suck  up  the  humours 

Of  the  dank  morning?     What,  is  Brutus  sick, 

And  will  he  steal  out  of  his  wholesome  bed, 

To  dare  the  vile  contagion  of  the  night. 

And  tempt  the  rheumy  and  unpurged  air 

To  add  unto  his  sickness  ?     Xo,  my  Brutus  ; 

You  have  some  sick  offence  within  your  mind, 

Which  by  the  right  and  virtue  of  my  place 

I  ought  to  know  of  :   and,  upon  my  knees,  270 

I  charm  you,  by  my  once  commended  beauty, 

By  all  your  vows  of  love  and  that  great  vow 

Wliich  did  incorporate  and  make  us  one, 

That  you  unfold  to  me,  yourself,  your  half, 

Why  you  are  heavy,  and  what  men  to-night 

Have  had  resort  to  you  ;   for  here  have  been 

Some  six  or  seven,  who  did  hide  their  faces 

Even  from  darkness. 

Bru.  Kneel  not,  gentle  Portia. 

Por.  I  should  not  need,  if  you  were  gentle  Brutus. 

Within  the  bond  of  marriage,  tell  me,  Brutus,         280 

Is  it  expected  I  should  know  no  secrets 

That  appertain  to  you  ?     Am  I  yourself 

But,  as  it  were,  in  sort  or  limitation. 

To  keep  wnth  you  at  meals,  comfort  your  bed. 

And  talk  to  you   sometimes?     Dwell   I   but   in   the 

suburbs 
Of  your  good  pleasure  ?    If  it  be  no  more, 
Portia  is  Brutus'  harlot,  not  his  wife. 

Bru.  You  are  my  true  and  honourable  wife, 
As  dear  to  me  as  are  the  ruddy  drops 
That  visit  my  sad  heart.  290 

54 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  II.  Sc.  i. 

For.  If  this  were  true,  then  should  I  know  this  secret. 

I  grant  I  am  a  woman,  but  withal 

A  woman  that  Lord  Brutus  took  to  wife : 

I  grant  I  am  a  woman,  but  withal 

A  woman  well  reputed,  Cato's  daugliter. 

Think  you  I  am  no  stronger  than  my  sex. 

Being  so  father'd  and  so  husbanded? 

Tell  me  your  counsels,  I  will  not  disclose  'em : 

I  have  made  strong  proof  of  my  constancy. 

Giving  myself  a  voluntary  wound  300 

Here  in  the  thigh  :    can  I  bear  that  with  patience 

And  not  my  husband's  secrets  ? 
Bru.  O  ye  gods, 

Render  me  worthy  of  this  noble  wife ! 

[Knocking  zvithin. 

Hark,  hark  !  one  knocks  :   Portia,  go  in  a  while  ; 

And  by  and  by  thy  bosom  shall  partake 

The  secrets  of  my  heart : 

All  my  engagements  I  will  construe  to  thee, 

All  the  charactery  of  my  sad  brows. 

Leave  me  with  haste.     [Exit  Portia.]     Lucius,  who  's 
that  knocks? 

Re-enter  Lucius  zvith  Ligarius. 

Luc.  Here  is  a  sick  man  that  would  speak  with  you.     310 
Bru.  Caius  Ligarius,  that  Metellus  spake  of. 

Boy,  stand  aside.     Caius  Ligarius  !  how  ? 
Lig.  Vouchsafe  good  morrow  from  a  feeble  tongue. 
Bru.  O,  what  a  time  have  you  chose  out,  brave  Caius, 

To  wear  a  kerchief !     Would  you  were  not  sick ! 
Lig.  I  am  not  sick,  if  Brutus  have  in  hand 

Any  exploit  worthy  the  name  of  honour, 

55 


Act  II.  Sc.  ii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Bru.  Such  an  exploit  have  I  in  hand,  Ligarius, 
Had  you  a  healthful  ear  to  hear  of  it. 

Lig.  By  all  the  gods  that  Romans  bow  before,  320 

I  here  discard  my  sickness !     Soul  of  Rome ! 
Brave  son,  derived  from  honourable  loins ! 
Thou,  like  an  exorcist,  hast  conjured  up 
My  mortified  spirit.     Now  bid  me  run. 
And  I  will  strive  with  things  impossible, 
Yea,  get  the  better  of  them.     What 's  to  do? 

Bru.  A  piece  of  work  that  will  make  sick  men  whole. 

Lig.  But  are  not  some  whole  that  we  must  make  sick? 

Bru.  That  must  we  also.     What  it  is,  my  Caius, 

I  shall  unfold  to  thee,  as  we  are  going  330 

To  whom  it  must  be  done. 

Lig.  Set  on  your  foot, 

And  with  a  heart  new-fired  I  follow  you, 
To  do  I  know  not  what :    but  it  sufficeth 
That  Brutus  leads  me  on. 

Bru.  Follow  me  then.      \Exeunt. 

Scene  II. 

Cccsars  Jiouse. 

Thunder  and  lightning.     Enter  Ccesar,  in  his  night- gozvn. 

Cccs.  Xor  heaven  nor  earth  have  been  at  peace  to-night : 
Thrice  hath  Calpurnia  in  her  sleep  cried  out, 
*  Help,  ho!  they  murder  Caesar  ! '     Who  's  within  ! 

Enter  a  Servant. 

Serv.  My  lord? 

Cces.  Go  bid  the  priests  do  present  sacrifice, 
And  bring  me  their  opinions  of  success. 
Serv,  I  will,  my  lord.  [Exit, 

56 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  II.  Sc.  ii. 

Enter  Calpurnia. 

Cal.   What  mean  you,  Caesar  ?  think  you  to  walk  forth  ? 
You  shall  not  stir  out  of  your  house  to-day. 

Cccs.  C?esar  shall  forth  :  the  things  that  threaten'd  me     lo 
Ne'er  look'd  but  on  my  back ;   when  they  shall  see 
The  face  of  Caesar,  they  are  vanished. 

Cal.  Caesar,  I  never  stood  on  ceremonies, 

Yet  now  they  fright  me.     There  is  one  within, 

Besides  the  things  that  we  have  heard  and  seen, 

Recounts  most  horrid  sights  seen  by  the  watch. 

A  lioness  hath  w^helped  in  the  streets ; 

And  graves  have  yawn'd,  and  yielded  up  their  dead ; 

Fierce  fiery  warriors  fight  upon  the  clouds. 

In  ranks  and  squadrons  and  right  form  of  war,      20 

Which  drizzled  blood  upon  the  Capitol ; 

The  noise  of  battle  hurtled  in  the  air, 

Horses  did  neigh  and  dying  men  did  groan, 

And  ghosts  did  shriek  and  squeal  about  the  streets. 

O  Caesar !   these  things  are  beyond  all  use. 

And  I  do  fear  them. 

C(ES.  What  can  be  avoided 

Whose  end  is  purposed  by  the  mighty  gods  ? 
Yet  Caesar  shall  go  forth ;   for  these  predictions 
Are  to  the  world  in  general  as  to  Caesar. 

Cal.  When  beggars  die,  there  are  no  comets  seen ;         30 
The   heavens   themselves   blaze   forth   the   death   of 
princes. 

CcES.  Cowards  die  many  times  before  their  death ; 
The  valiant  never  taste  of  death  but  once. 
Of  all  the  wonders  that  I  yet  have  heard. 
It  seems  to  me  most  strange  that  men  should  fear ; 

57 


Act  II.  Sc.  ii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Seeing  that  death,  a  necessary  end, 
Will  come  when  it  will  come. 

Re-enter  Servant. 

What  say  the  augurers? 
Serv.  They  would  not  have  you  to  stir  forth  to-day. 

Plucking  the  entrails  of  an  offering  forth, 

They  could  not  find  a  heart  within  the  beast.  40 

Cces.  The  gods  do  this  in  shame  of  cowardice : 

Caesar  should  be  a  beast  without  a  heart 

If  he  should  stay  at  home  to-day  for  fear. 

No,  Caesar  shall  not :   danger  knows  full  well 

That  Csesar  is  more  dangerous  than  he : 

We  are  two  lions  litter'd  in  one  day. 

And  I  the  elder  and  more  terrible : 

And  Caesar  shall  go  forth. 
Cal.  Alas,  my  lord, 

Your  wisdom  is  consumed  in  confidence. 

Do  not  go  forth  to-day :   call  it  my  fear  50 

That  keeps  you  in  the  house  and  not  your  own. 

We  '11  send  Mark  Antony  to  the  senate-house, 

And  he  shall  say  you  are  not  well  to-day : 

Let  me,  upon  my  knee,  prevail  in  this. 
Cccs.  Mark  Antony  shall  say  I  am  not  well. 

And,  for  thy  humour,  I  will  stay  at  home. 

Enter  Decius. 

Here  's  Decius  Brutus,  he  shall  tell  them  so. 
Dec.  Csesar,  all  hail !   good  morrow,  worthy  Caesar : 

I  come  to  fetch  you  to  the  senate-house. 
Cces.  And  you  are  come  in  very  happy  time,  60 

To  bear  my  greeting  to  the  senators 

58 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  II.  Sc.  ii. 

And  tell  them  that  I  will  not  come  to-day : 
Cannot,  is  false,  and  that  I  dare  not,  falser: 
I  will  not  come  to-day :  tell  them  so,  Decius. 

Cal.  Say  he  is  sick. 

Cccs.  vShall  Caesar  send  a  lie? 

Have  I  in  conquest  stretch' d  mine  arm  so  far, 
To  be  afeard  to  tell  graybeards  the  truth  ? 
Decius,  go  tell  them  Caesar  will  not  come. 

Dec.  Most  mighty  Caesar,  let  me  know  some  cause, 

Lest  I  be  laugh'd  at  when  I  tell  them  so.  70 

Cccs.  The  cause  is  in  my  will :  I  will  not  come ; 
That  is  enough  to  satisfy  the  senate. 
But,  for  your  private  satisfaction, 
Because  I  love  you,  I  will  let  you  know. 
Calpumia  here,  my  wife,  stays  me  at  home : 
She  dreamt  to-night  she  saw  my  statue, 
Which  like  a  fountain  with  an  hundred  spouts 
Did  run  pure  blood,  and  many  lusty  Romans 
Came  smiling  and  did  bathe  their  hands  in  it : 
And  these  does  she  apply  for  warnings  and  portents 
And  evils  imminent,  and  on  her  knee  81 

Hath  begg'd  that  I  will  stay  at  home  to-day. 

Dec.  This  dream  is  all  amiss  interpreted ; 
It  was  a  vision  fair  and  fortunate : 
Your  statue  spouting  blood  in  many  pipes, 
In  which  so  many  smiling  Romans  bathed, 
Signifies  that  from  you  great  Rome  shall  suck 
Reviving  blood,  and  that  great  men  shall  press 
For  tinctures,  stains,  relics  and  cognizance. 
This  by  Calpurnia's  dream  is  signified.  90 

Cccs.  And  this  way  have  you  well  expounded  it. 

Dec.  I  have,  when  you  have  heard  what  I  can  say : 

59 


Act  II.  Sc.  ii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

And  know  it  now  :  the  senate  have  conchided 
To  give  this  day  a  crown  to  mighty  Caesar. 
If  you  shall  send  them  word  you  will  not  come, 
Their  minds  may  change.     Besides,  it  were  a  mock 
Apt  to  be  render'd,  for  some  one  to  say 

*  Break  up  the  Senate  till  another  time. 

When  Caesar's  wife  shall  meet  with  better  dreams.' 
If  Caesar  hide  himself,  shall  they  not  whisper        lOO 

*  Lo,  Caesar  is  afraid '  ? 

Pardon  me,  Caesar,  for  my  dear  dear  love 
To  your  proceeding  bids  me  tell  you  this, 
And  reason  to  my  love  is  liable. 
Cces.  How  foolish  do  your  fears  seem  now,  Calpurnia! 
I  am  ashamed  I  did  yield  to  them. 
Give  me  my  robe,  for  I  will  go. 

Enter  Pub  Hits,   Brutus,   Ligarius,   Metelhts,    Case  a, 
Trehonius,  and  Cinna. 

And  look  where  Publius  is  come  to  fetch  me. 

Piih.  Good  morrow,  Caesar. 

CcEs.  Welcome,  Publius. 

What,  Brutus,  are  you  stirr'd  so  early  too?  no 

Good  morrow,  Casca.     Caius  Ligarius, 

Caesar  was  ne'er  so  much  your  enemy 

As  that  same  ague  which  hath  made  you  lean. 

What  is  't  o'clock  ? 

Bru.  Caesar,  'tis  strucken  eight. 

Cces.  I  thank  you  for  your  pains  and  courtesy. 

Enter  Antony. 

See !  Antony,  that  revels  long  o'  nights. 

Is  notwithstanding  up.     Good  morrow,  Antony. 

60 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  II.  Sc.  iii. 

Aiit.  So  to  most  noble  Caesar. 

CcFs.  Bid  them  prepare  within : 

I  am  to  blame  to  be  thus  waited  for. 

Now,  Cinna  :  now,  Aletellus  :  what,  Trebonius  ! 

I  have  an  hour's  talk  in  store  for  you ;  121 

Remember  that  you  call  on  me  to-day : 

Be  near  me,  that  I  may  remember  you. 
Treb.  Caesar,  I  will.     [Aside]     And  so  near  will  I  be. 

That  your  best  friends  shall  wish  I  had  been  further. 
Cces.  Good  friends,  go  in  and  taste  some  wine  with  me ; 

And  we  like  friends  will  straightway  go  together. 
Bni.    [Aside]  That  every  like  is  not  the  same,  O  Csesar, 

The  heart  of  Brutus  yearns  to  think  upon ! 

[Exeunt. 

Scene  III. 

A  street  near  the  Capitol. 

Enter  Artemidoriis,  reading  a  paper. 

Art.  *  Caesar,  bew^are  of  Brutus  :  take  heed  of  Cassius  ; 
come  not  near  Casca ;  have  an  eye  to  Cinna ; 
trust  not  Trebonius  ;  mark  well  JMetellus  Cimber : 
Decius  Brutus  loves  thee  not :  thou  hast  wronged 
Caius  Ligarius.  There  is  but  one  mind  in  all 
these  men,  and  it  is  bent  against  Caesar.  If  thou 
beest  not  immortal,  look  about  you :  security 
gives  way  to  conspiracy.  The  mighty  gods 
defend  thee ! 

Thy  lover,  Artemidgrus."     10 

Here  will  I  stand  till  Caesar  pass  along, 
And  as  a  suitor  will  I  give  him  this. 
My  heart  laments  that  virtue  cannot  live 

61 


Act  II.  Sc.  iv.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Out  of  the  teeth  of  emulation. 

If  thou  read  this,  O  Caesar,  thou  mayst  live; 

If  not,  the  Fates  with  traitors  do  contrive.         [Exit. 

Scene  IV. 

Another  part  of  the  same  street,  before  the  house  of  Brutus. 
Enter  Portia  and  Lucius. 

For.  I  prithee,  boy,  run  to  the  senate-house ; 

Stay  not  to  answer  me,  but  get  thee  gone. 

Why  dost  thou  stay? 
Luc.  To  know  my  errand,  madam. 

For.  I  would  have  had  thee  there,  and  here  again, 

Ere  I  can  tell  thee  what  thou  shouldst  do  there. 

0  constancy,  be  strong  upon  my  side ! 

Set  a  huge  mountain  'tween  my  heart  and  tongue ! 

1  have  a  man's  mind,  but  a  woman's  might. 
How  hard  it  is  for  women  to  keep  counsel ! 
Art  thou  here  yet  ? 

Luc.  Madam,  what  should  I  do?     lo 

Run  to  the  Capitol,  and  nothing  else  ? 

And  so  return  to  you,  and  nothing  else? 
For.  Yes,  bring  me  word,  boy,  if  thy  lord  look  well, 

For  he  went  sickly  forth :   and  take  good  note 

What  Caesar  doth,  what  suitors  press  to  him. 

Hark,  boy !    what  noise,  is  that  ? 
Luc.  I  hear  none,  madam. 
For.  Prithee,  listen  well : 

I  heard  a  bustling  rumour  like  a  fray. 

And  the  wind  brings  it  from  the  Capitol. 
Luc.  Sooth,  madam,  I  hear  nothing.  20 

62 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  II.  Sc.  iv. 

Enter  the  Soothsayer. 

Par.  Come  hither,  fellow : 

Which  way  hast  thou  been? 

Sooth.  At  mine  own  house,  good  lady. 

Ppr.  What  is  't  o'clock  ? 

SootJi.  About  the  ninth  hour,  lady. 

For.  Is  Csesar  yet  gone  to  the  Capitol? 

SootJi.  Aladam,  not  yet :   I  go  to  take  my  stand, 
To  see  him  pass  on  to  the  Capitol. 

Por.  Thou  hast  som.e  suit  to  Caesar,  hast  thou  not? 

SootJi.  That  I  have,  lady  :  if  it  will  please  Caesar 
To  be  so  good  to  Caesar  as  to  hear  me, 
I  shall  beseech  him  to  befriend  himself.  30 

Por.  \Vhy,know'st  thou  any  harm  's  intended  towards  him  ? 

Sooth.  None  that  I  know  will  be,  much  that  I  fear  may 
chance. 
Good  morrow  to  you.     Here  the  street  is  narrow : 
The  throng  that  follows  Caesar  at  the  heels, 
Of  senators,  of  praetors,  common  suitors. 
Will  crowd  a  feeble  man  almost  to  death : 
I  '11  get  me  to  a  place  more  void  and  there 
Speak  to  great  Caesar  as  he  comes  along.  [Exit. 

Por.  I  must  go  in.     Ay  me,  how  weak  a  thing 

The  heart  of  woman  is  !     O  Brutus,  40 

The  heavens  speed  thee  in  thine  enterprise! 

Sure^  the  boy  heard  me.     Brutus  hath  a  suit 

That  Caesar  will  not  grant.     O,  I  grow  faint. 

Run,  Lucius,  and  commend  me  to  my  lord; 

Say  I  am  merry :   come  to  me  asfain. 

And  bring  me  word  what  he  doth  say  to  thee. 

[Exeunt  severally. 


f>3 


Act  III.  Sc.  i.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

ACT  THIRD. 
Scene  I. 

Rome.    Before  the  Capitol;  the  Senate  sitting  above. 

A  crozvd  of  people;  among  them  Artemidoriis  and  the 
Soothsayer.  Flourish.  Enter  Ccesar,  Brutus,  Cas- 
sius,  Casca^  Deeius,  Metelhis,  Trebonius,  Cinna,  An- 
tony, Lepidus,  Popilius,  Publins,  and  others. 

Cccs.  The  ides  of  ^larch  are  come. 

Sooth.  Ay,  Caesar;  but  not  gone. 

Art.  Hail,  Caesar !   read  this  schedule. 

Dee.  Trebonius  doth  desire  you  to  o'er-read, 

i\t  your  best  leisure,  this  his  humble  suit. 
Art.  O  Caesar,  read  mine  first ;   for  mine  's  a  suit 

That  touches  Caesar  nearer :  read  it,  great  Caesar. 
Ccrs.  What  touches  us  ourself  shall  be  last  served. 
Art.  Delay  not,  Caesar ;   read  it  instantly. 
Cces.  What,  is  the  fellow  mad? 

Pub.  Sirrah,  give  place.  lo 

Cas.  What,  urge  you  your  petitions  in  the  street  ? 

Come  to  the  Capitol. 

Cccsar  goes  up  to  the  Senate-house,  the  rest 
foUozi'ing. 

Pop.  I  wish  your  enterprise  to-day  may  thrive. 

Cas.  What  enterprise,  Popilius? 

Pop.  Fare  you  well. 

[Advances  fo'Ccesar. 
Bru.  What  said  Popilius  Lena? 
Cas.  He  wish'd  to-day  our  enterprise  might  thrive. 
I  fear  our  purpose  is  discovered. 

^4 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  III.  Sc.  i. 

Bni.  Look,  how  he  makes  to  Caesar :  mark  him. 

Cas.  Casca, 

Be  sudden,  for  we  fear  prevention. 
Brutus,  what  shall  be  done?     If  this  be  known,     20 
Cassius  or  Caesar  never  shall  turn  back, 
For  I  will  slay  myself. 

Bnt.  Cassius,  be  constant: 

Popilius  Lena  speaks  not  of  our  purposes ; 
For,  look,  he  smiles,  and  Caesar  doth  not  change. 

Cas.  Trebonius  knows  his  time ;  for,  look  you,  Brutus, 
Fie  draws  Mark  Antony  out  of  the  way. 

[Exeunt  Antony  and  Trebonius. 

Dec.  Where  is  Metellus  Cimber  ?     Let  him  go, 
And  presently  prefer  his  suit  to  Caesar. 

Bru.  Fie  is  address'd :   press  near  and  second  him. 

Cin.  Casca,  you  are  the  first  that  rears  your  hand.         30 

Cics.  Are  we  all  ready  ?     What  is  now  amiss 
That  Caesar  and  his  senate  must  redress  ? 

Met.  Most  high,  most  mighty  and  most  puissant  Caesar, 
Metellus  Cimber  throws  before  thy  seat 
An  humble'  heart : —  [Kneeling. 

Cces.  I  must  prevent  thee,  Cimber. 

These  couchings  and  these  lowly  courtesies 
Might  fire  the  blood  of  ordinary  men. 
And  turn  pre-ordinance  and  first  decree 
Into  the  law  of  children.     Be  not  fond, 
To  think  that  Caesar  bears  such  rebel  blood  40 

That  will  be  thaw'd  from  the  true  quality 
With  that  which  melteth  fools,  I  mean,  sweet  words. 
Low-crooked  court'sies  and  base  spaniel-fawning. 
Thy  brother  by  decree  is  banished : 
If  thou  dost  bend  and  pray  and  fawn  for  him, 

65 


Act  III.  Sc.  i.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

I  spurn  thee  like  a  cur  out  of  my  way. 

Know,  Caesar  doth  not  wrong,  nor  without  cause 

Will  he  be  satisfied. 
Met.  Is  there  no  voice  more  worthy  than  my  own, 

To  sound  more  sweetly  in  great  Caesar's  ear  50 

For  the  repealing  of  my  banish'd  brother? 
Brii.  I  kiss  thy  hand,  but  not  in  flattery,  Caesar, 

Desiring  thee  that  Publius  Cimber  may 

Have  an  immediate  freedom  of  repeal. 
Cccs.  What,  Brutus ! 
Cas.  Pardon,  Caesar ;  Caesar,  pardon  : 

As  low  as  to  thy  foot  doth  Cassius  fall, 

To  beg-  enfranchisement  for  Publius  Cimber. 
Cccs.  I  could  be  well  moved,  if  I  were  as  you ; 

If  I  could  pray  to  move,  prayers  would  move  me: 

But  I  am  constant  as  the  northern  star,  60 

Of  whose  true-fix'd  and  resting  quality 

There  is  no  fellow  in  the  firmament. 

The  skies  are  painted  with  unnumberVl  sparks ; 

They  are  all  fire  and  every  one  doth  shine ; 

But  there  's  but  one  in  all  doth  hold  his  place : 

So  in  the  world ;   'tis  furnish'd  well  with  men, 

And  men  are  flesh  and  blood,  and  apprehensive ; 

Yet  in  the  number  I  do  know  but  one 

That  unassailable  holds  on  his  rank, 

Unshaked  of  motion  :   and  that  I  am  he,  70 

Let  me  a  Httle  show  it,  even  in  this ; 

That  I  was  constant  Cimber  should  be  banish'd, 

And  constant  do  remain  to  keep  him  so. 
Cin.  O  Caesar, — 

Cccs.  Hence!   wilt  thou  lift  up  Olympus? 

Dec.  Great  Caesar, — 

66 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  III.  Sc.  i. 

Cces.  Doth  not  Brutus  bootless  kneel  ? 

Casca.  Speak,  hands,  for  me ! 

{Casca  first,  then  the  other  Conspirators 
and  Marcus  Brutus  stab  Caesar. 
Cces.  Et  tu.  Brute  ?     Then  fall,  Caesar !  [Dies. 

Cin.  Liberty  !   freedom  !     Tyranny  is  dead  ! 

Run  hence,  proclaim,  cry  it  about  the  streets. 
Cas.  Some  to  the  common  pulpits,  and  cry  out  80 

'  Liberty,  freedom  and  enfranchisement ! ' 
Brii.  People,  and  senators,,  be  not  affrighted ; 

Fly  not ;  stand  still :  ambition's  debt  is  paid. 
Casca.  Go  to  the  pulpit,  Brutus. 
Dec.  And  Cassius  too. 
BriL  Where  's  Publius  ? 

Cin.  Here,  quite  confounded  with  this  mutiny. 
Met.  Stand  fast  together,  lest  some  friend  of  Caesar's 

Should  chance — 
Bru.  Talk  not  of  standing.     Publius,  good  cheer; 

There  is  no  harm  intended  to  your  person,  90 

Nor  to  no  Roman  else  :  so  tell  them,  Publius. 
Cas.  And  leave  us.  Publius  ;  lest  that  the  people 

Rushing  on  us  should  do  your  age  some  mischief. 
Bru.  Do  so :   and  let  no  man  abide  this  deed 

But  we  the  doers. 

Re-enter  Trebonius. 

Cas.  Where  is  Antony  ? 

Tre.  Fled  to  his  house  amazed : 

Men,  wives  and  children  stare,  cry  out  and  run 

As  it  were  doomsday. 
Bru.  Fates,  we  will  know  your  pleasures : 

Th.at  v.-e  shall  die,  we  know ;   'tis  but  the  time, 

67 


Act  III.  Sc.  i.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

And  drawing  days  out,  that  men  stand  upon.        loo 

Cas.  Why,  he  that  cuts  off  twenty  years  of  hfe 
Cuts  off  so  many  years  of  fearing  death. 

Bru.  Grant  that,  and  then  is  death  a  benefit : 

So  are  wq  Caesar's  friends,  that  have  abridged 

His  time  of  fearing  death.     Stoop,  Romans,  stoop, 

And  let  us  bathe  our  hands  in  Caesar's  blood 

Up  to  the  elbows,  and  besmear  our  swords : 

Then  walk  we  forth,  even  to  the  market-place, 

And  waving  our  red  weapons  o'er  our  heads. 

Let 's  all  cry  '  Peace,  freedom  and  liberty ! '  no 

Cas.  Stoop  then,  and  wash.     How  many  ages  hence 
Shall  this  our  lofty  scene  be  acted  over 
In  states  unborn  and  accents  yet  unknown! 

Bru.  How  many  times  shall  Caesar  bleed  in  sport, 
That  now  on  Pompey's  basis  lies  along 
No  worthier  than  the  dust ! 

Cas.  So  oft  as  that  shall  be. 

So  often  shall  the  knot  of  us  be  call'd 
The  men  that  gave  their  country  liberty. 

Dec.  What,  shall  we  forth  ? 

Cas.  Ay,  every  man  away : 

Brutus  shall  lead,  and  we  will  grace  his  heels        120 
With  the  most  boldest  and  best  hearts  of  Rome. 

Enter  a  Servant. 

BriL  Soft !  v^rho  comes  here  ?     A  friend  of  Antony's. 
Serv.  Thus,  Brutus,  did  my  master  bid  me  kneel ; 

Thus  did  Mark  Antony  bid  me  fall  down ; 

And,  being  prostrate,  thus  he  bade  me  say: 

Brutus  is  noble,  wise,  valiant  and  honest ; 

Caesar  was  mighty,  bold,  royal  and  loving: 

68 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  III.  Sc.  i. 

Say  I  love  Brutus  and  I  honour  him ; 

Say  I  fear'd  Caesar,  honour'd  him  and  loved  him. 

If  Brutus  will  vouchsafe  that  Antony  130 

May  safely  come  to  him  and  be  resolved 

How  Caesar  hath  deserved  to  lie  in  death, 

Mark  Antony  shall  not  love  Caesar  dead 

So  well  as  Brutus  living,  but  will  follow 

The  fortunes  and  affairs  of  noble  Brutus 

Thorough  the  hazards  of  this  untrod  state 

With  all  true  faith.     So  says  my  master  Antony. 

Bni.  Thy  master  is  a  wise  and  valiant  Roman  ; 
I  never  thought  him  worse. 

Tell  him,  so  please  him  come  unto  this  place,  140 

He  shall  be  satisfied  and,  by  my  honour, 
Depart  imtouch'd. 

Scrv.  I  '11  fetch  him  presently.  [Exit. 

Bni.  I  know  that  we  shall  have  him  well  to  friend. 

Cos.  I  wish  we  may :  but  yet  have  I  a  mind 

That  fears  him  much,  and  my  misgiving  still 
Falls  shrewdly  to  the  purpose. 

Re-cutcr  Antony. 

Bru.  But  here  comes  Antony.     Welcome,  Mark  Antony. 

Ant.  O  mighty  Caesar!   dost  thou  lie  so  low? 

Are  all  thy  conquests,  glories,  triumphs,  spoils. 

Shrunk  to  this  little  measure?     Fare  thee  well.      150 

I  know  not,  gentlemen,  what  you  intend. 

Who  else  must  be  let  blood,  who  else  is  rank : 

If  I  myself,  there  is  no  hour  so  fit 

As  Caesar's  death's  hour,  nor  no  instrument 

Of  half  that  v;orth  as  those  your  swords,  made  rich 

With  th^  most  noble  blood  of  all  this  world. 

69 


Act  III.  Sc.  i.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

I  do  beseech  ye,  if  you  bear  me  hard, 

Now,  whilst  your  purpled  hands  do  reek  and  smoke, 

Fulfil  your  pleasure.     Live  a  thousand  years, 

I  shall  not  find  myself  so  apt  to  die :  i6o 

No  place  will  please  me  so,  no  mean  of  death, 

As  here  by  Caesar,  and  by  you  cut  ofif. 

The  choice  and  master  spirits  of  this  age. 

Bru.  O  Antony,  beg  not  your  death  of  us. 

Though  now  we  must  appear  bloody  and  cruel, 

As,  by  our  hands  and  this  our  present  act, 

You  see  we  do ;   yet  see  you  but  our  hands 

And  this  the  bleeding  business  they  have  done: 

Our  hearts  you  see  not ;   they  are  pitiful ; 

And  pity  to  the  general  wrong  of  Rome —  170 

As  fire  drives  out  fire,  so  pity  pity — 

Hath  done  this  deed  on  C?esar.     For  your  part, 

To  you  our  swords  have  leaden  points,  Mark  Antony : 

Our  arms  in  strength  of  malice,  and  our  hearts 

Of  brothers'  temper,  do  receive  you  in 

With  all  kind  love,  good  thoughts  and  reverence. 

Cas.  Your  voice  shall  be  as  strong  as  any  man's 
In  the  disposing  of  new  dignities. 

Bru.  Only  be  patient  till  we  have  appeased 

The  multitude,  beside  themselves  with  fear,  180 

And  then  we  will  deliver  you  the  cause 
Why  I,  that  did  love  Caesar  when  I  struck  him, 
Have  thus  proceeded. 

Ant.  I  doubt  not  of  your  wisdom. 

Let  each  man  render  me  his  bloody  hand : 
First,  Marcus  Brutus,  will  I  shake  with  you ; 
Next,  Caius  Cassius,  do  I  take  your  hand ; 
Now,  Decius  Brutus,  yours ;  now  yours,  Metellus ; 
70 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  III.  Sc.  i. 

k 

Yours,  Cinna ;  and,  my  valiant  Casca,  yours ; 

Though  last,  not  least  in  love,  yours,  good  Trebonius. 

Gentlemen  all, — alas,  what  shall  I  say?  190 

My  credit  now  stands  on  such  slippery  ground. 

That  one  of  two  bad  ways  you  must  conceit  me, 

Either  a  coward  or  a  flatterer. 

That  I  did  love  thee,  Caesar,  O,  'tis  true : 

If  then  thy  spirit  look  upon  us  now, 

Shall  it  not  grieve  thee  dearer  than  thy  death, 

To  see  thy  Antony  making  his  peace, 

Shaking  the  bloody  fingers  of  thy  foes. 

Most  noble!   in  the  presence  of  thy  corse? 

Had  I  as  many  eyes  as  thou  hast  wounds,  200 

Weeping  as  fast  as  they  stream  forth  thy  blood, 

It  would  become  me  better  than  to  close 

In  terms  of  friendship  with  thine  enemies. 

Pardon  me,  Julius !     Here  wast  thou  bay'd,  bra 

hart  ; 
Here  didst  thou  fall,  and  here  thy  hunters  stand, 
Sign'd  in  thy  spoil  and  crimson'd  in  thy  lethe. 
O  world,  thou  wast  the  forest  to  this  hart ; 
And  this,  indeed,  O  world,  the  heart  of  thee. 
How  like  a  deer  strucken  by  many  princes 
Dost  thou  here  lie !  210 

Cas.  Mark  Antony, — 

Ant.  Pardon  me,  Caius  Cassius: 

The  enemies  of  Caesar  shall  say  this ; 
Then,  in  a  friend,  it  is  cold  modesty. 

Cas.  I  blame  you  not  for  praising  Caesar  so ; 

But  what  compact  mean  you  to  have  with  us  ? 
Will  you  be  prick'd  in  number  of  our  friends. 
Or  shall  we  on,  and  not  depend  on  you? 

71 


Act  III.  Sc.  i.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Ant.  Therefore  I  took  your  hands,  but  was  indeed 

Swav'd  from  the  point  by  looking  down  on  Caesar. 
Friends  am  I  with  you  all  and  love  you  all,  220 

Upon  this  hope  that  you  shall  give  me  reasqns 
Why  and  wherein  Caesar  was  dangerous. 
Bni.  Or  else  were  this  a  savage  spectacle : 
Our  reasons  are  so  full  of  good  regard 
That  were  you,  Antony,  the  son  of  Caesar, 
You  should  be  satisfied. 
Ant.  That  *s  all  I  seek: 

And  am  moreover  suitor  that  I  may 
Produce  his  body  to  the  market-place, 
And  in  the  pulpit,  as  becomes  a  friend, 
Speak  in  the  order  of  his  funeral.  230 

Bru.  You  shall,  Mark  Antony. 

Cos.  Brutus,  a  word  with  you. 

[Aside  to  Bru.]  You  know  not  what  you  do:  do  not 

consent 
That  Antony  speak  in  his  funeral : 
Know  you  how  much  the  people  may  be  moved 
By  that  which  he  will  utter  ? 
Bru.  By  your  pardon : 

I  will  myself  into  the  pulpit  first, 
And  show  the  reason  of  our  Caesar's  death: 
What  Antony  shall  speak,  I  will  protest 
He  speaks  by  leave  and  by  permission. 
And  that  we  are  contented  Caesar  shall  240 

Have  all  true  rites  and  lawful  ceremonies. 
It  shall  advantage  more  than  do  us  wrong. 
Cas.  I  know  not  what  may  fall ;   I  like  it  not. 
Bru.  Mark  Antony,  here,  take  you  Caesar's  body. 
You  shall  not  in  your  funeral  speech  blame  us, 

72 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  III.  Sc.  i. 

But  speak  all  good  you  can  devise  of  Caesar, 

And  say  you  do  't  by  our  permission  ; 

Else  shall  you  not  have  any  hand  at  all 

About  his  funeral :   and  you  shall  speak 

In  the  same  pulpit  whereto  I  am  going,  250 

After  my  speech  is  ended. 
Ant.  Ee  it  so  ; 

I  do  desire  no  more. 
BriL  Prepare  the  body  then,  and  follow  us. 

[Exeunt  all  but  Antony. 

Ant.  O,  pardon  me,  thou  bleeding  piece  of  earth, 

That  I  am  meek  and  gentle  with  these  butchers ! 

Thou  art  the  ruins  of  the  noblest  man 

That  ever  lived  in  the  tide  of  times. 

Woe  to  the  hand  that  shed  this  costly  blood ! 

Over  thy  wounds  now  do  I  prophesy, 

.Which  like  dumb  mouths  do  ope  their  ruby  lips     260 

To  beg  the  voice  and  utterance  of  my  tongue, 

A  curse  shall  light  upon  the  limbs  of  men ; 

Domestic  fury  and  fierce  civil  strife 

Shall  cumber  all  the  parts  of  Italy ; 

Blood  and  destruction  shall  be  so  in  use, 

And  dreadful  objects  so  familiar, 

That  mothers  shall  but  smile  when  they  behold 

Their  infants  quarter'd  with  the  hands  of  war ; 

All  pity  choked  with  custom  of  fell  deeds : 

And  Ccesar's  spirit  ranging  for  revenge,  270 

With  Ate  by  his  side  come  hot  from  hell, 

Shall  in  these  confines  with  a  monarch's  voice 

Cry  '  Havoc,'  and  let  slip  the  dogs  of  war ; 

That  this  foul  deed  shall  smell  above  the  earth 

With  carrion  men,  groaning  for  burial. 

73 


Act  III.  Sc.  ii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Enter  a  Servant. 

You  serve  Octavius  Caesar,  do  you  not? 

Serv.  I  do,  Mark  Antony. 

Ant.  Caesar  did  write  for  him  to  come  to  Rome. 

Serv.  He  did  receive  his  letters,  and  is  coming ; 

And  bid  me  say  to  you  by  word  of  mouth —  280 

O  Caesar!  [Seeing  the  body. 

Ant.  Thy  heart  is  big ;  get  thee  apart  and  weep. 
Passion,  I  see,  is  catching,  for  mine  eyes. 
Seeing  those  beads  of  sorrow  stand  in  thine, 
Began  to  water.     Is  thy  master  coming? 

Serv.  He  Hes  to-night  within  seven  leagues  of  Rome. 

Ant.  Post  back  with  speed,  and  tell  him  what  hath  chanced : 
Here  is  a  mourning  Rome,  a  dangerous  Rome, 
No  Rome  of  safety  for  Octavius  yet ; 
Hie  hence,  and  tell  him  so.     Yet  stay  awhile ;       290 
Thou  shalt  not  back  till  I  have  borne  this  corse 
Into  the  market-place :  there  shall  I  try, 
In  my  oration,  how  the  people  take 
The  cruel  issue  of  these  bloody  men ; 
According  to  the  which,  thou  shalt  discourse 
To  young  Octavius  of  the  state  of  things. 
Lend  me  your  hand.  [Exennt  zvith  Ccesar's  body. 

Scene   II. 

The  Forum. 

Enter  Brutus  and  Cassius,  and  a  throng  of  Citizens. 

Citizens.  We  will  be  satisfied ;   let  us  be  satisfied. 
Bru.  Then  follow  me,  and  give  me  audience,  friends. 

Cassius,  go  you  into  the  other  street, 

And  part  the  numbers. 

74 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  III.  Sc.  ii. 

Those  that  will  hear  me  speak,  let  'em  stay  here ; 
Those  that  will  follow  Cassius,  go  with  him ; 
And  public  reasons  shall  be  rendered 
Of  Caesar's  death. 

First  Cit.  I  will  hear  Brutus  speaK. 

Sec.  Cit.  I  will  hear  Cassius  ;  and  compare  their  reasons, 
When  severally  we  hear  them  rendered.  lo 

[Exit  Cassius,  zvith  some  of  the  Citi::^cns. 
Brutus  goes  into  the  pulpit. 

Third  Cit.  The  noble  Brutus  is  ascended  :   silence ! 

Bru.  Be  patient  till  the  last. 

Romans,  countrymen,  and  lovers !  hear  me  for 
my  cause,  and  be  silent,  that  you  may  hear: 
believe  me  for  mine  honour,  and  have  respect  to 
mine  honour,  that  you  may  believe :  censure  me 
in  your  wisdom,  and  awake  your  senses,  that  you 
may  the  better  judge.  If  there  be  any  in  this 
assembly,  any  dear  friend  of  Caesar's,  to  him  I 
say  that  Brutus'  love  to  Caesar  was  no  less  than  20 
his.  If  then  that  friend  demand  why  Brutus 
rose  against  Caesar,  this  is  my  answer :  not  that 
I  loved  Caesar  less,  but  that  I  loved  Rome  more. 
Had  you  ratlier  Caesar  were  living,  and  die  all 
slaves,  than  that  Caesar  were  dead,  to  live  all 
freemen  ?  As  Caesar  loved  me,  I  weep  for  him  ; 
as  he  was  fortunate,  I  rejoice  at  it;  as  he  was 
valiant,  I  honour  him ;  but  as  he  was  ambitious, 
I  slew  him.  There  is  tears  for  his  love;  joy 
for  his  fortune ;  honour  for  his  valour ;  and  30 
death  for  his  ambition.  Who  is  here  so  base 
that  would  be  a  bondman  ?  If  any,  speak  ;  for 
hihi  have  I  offended.     Who  is  here  so  rude  that 

75 


Act  III.  Sc.  ii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

would  not  be  a  Roman  ?  If  any,  speak ;  for 
him  have  I  offended.  Who  is  here  so  vile  that 
will  not  love  his  country?  If  any,  speak;  for 
him  have  I  offended.     I  pause  for  a  reply. 

All.  None,  Brutus,  none. 

Bni.  Then  none  have  I  offended.     I  have  done  no 

more  to  Caesar  than  you  shall  do  to  Brutus.     The     40 
question  of  his  death  is  enrolled  in  the  Capitol ; 
his  glory  not  extenuated,  wherein  he  was  worthy, 
nor  his  offences  enforced,  for  which  he  suffered 
death. 

Enter  Antony  and  others,  z<nth  Cccsar's  body. 

Here  comes  his  body,  mourned  by  Mark  Antony  : 
who,  though  he  had  no  hand  in  his  death,  shall 
receive  the  benefit  of  his  dying,  a  place  in  the 
commonwealth ;  as  which  of  you  shall  not  ? 
With  this  I  depart, — that,  as  I  slew  my  best 
lover  for  the  good  of  Rome,  I  have  the  same  50 
dagger  for  myself,  when  it  shall  please  my 
country  to  need  my  death. 

All.  Live,  Brutus!   live,  live! 

First  Cit.  Bring  him  with  triumph  home  unto  his  house. 

Sec.  Cit.  Give  him  a  statue  with  his  ancestors. 

Third  Cit.  Let  him  be  Caesar. 

Fourth  Cit.  Caesar's  better  parts 

Shall  be  crown'd  in  Brutus. 

First  Cit.  We  '11  bring  him  to  his  house  with  shouts  and 
clamours. 

Brn.  My  countrymen, — 

Sec.  Cit.  Peace  I   silence !   Brutus  speaks. 

First  Cit.  Peace,  ho ! 

76 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  III.  Sc.  ii. 

Bru.  Good  countrymen,  let  me  depart  alone,  60 

And,  for  my  sake,  stay  here  with  Antony  : 

Do  grace  to  Caesar's  corpse,  and  grace  his  speech 

Tending  to  Cesar's  glories,  which  Mark  Antony 

By  our  permission  is  allow'd  to  make. 

I  do  entreat  you,  not  a  man  depart. 

Save  I  alone,  till  Antony  have  spoke.  [Exit. 

First  Cit.  Stay,  ho  !   and  let  us  hear  Alark  Antony. 
Third  Cit.  Let  him  go  up  into  the  public  chair; 

We  '11  hear  him.     Noble  Antony,  go  up. 
Ant.  For  Brutus'  sake  I  am  beholding  to  you.  70 

[Goes  into  the  pulpit. 
Fourth  Cit.  What  does  he  say  of  Brutus? 
Third  Cit.  He  says,  for  Brutus'  sake, 

He  finds  himself  beholding  to  us  all. 
Fourth  Cit.  'Twere  best  he  speak  no  harm  of  Brutus  here. 
First  Cit.  This  Caesar  was  a  tyrant. 
Third  Cit.  Nay,  that 's  certain  : 

We  are  blest  that  Rome  is  rid  of  him. 
Sec.  Cit.  Peace !   let  us  hear  what  Antony  can  say. 
Ant.  You  gentle  Romans, — 

All.  Peace,  ho !   let  us  hear  him. 

Ant.  Friends,  Romans,  countrymen,  lend  me  your  ears; 

I  come  to  bury  Caesar,  not  to  praise  him. 

The  evil  that  men  do  lives  after  them ;  80 

The  good  is  oft  interred  with  their  bones ; 

So  let  it  be  with  Caesar.     The  noble  Brutus 

Hath  told  you  Caesar  was  ambitious : 

If  it  were  so,  it  was  a  grievous  fault, 

And  grievously  hath  Caesar  answer'd  it. 

Here,  under  leave  of  Brutus  and  the  rest, — 

For  Brutus  is  an  honourable  man ; 


Act  III.  Sc.  ii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

So  are  they  all,  all  honourable  men, — 

Come  I  to  speak  in  Caesar's  funeral. 

He  was  my  friend,  faithful  and  just  to  me:  90 

But  Brutus  says  he  was  ambitious ; 

And  Brutus  is  an  honourable  man. 

He  hath  brought  many  captives  home  to  Rome, 

Whose  ranspms  did  the  general  coffers  fill : 

Did  this  in  Caesar  seem  ambitious? 

When  that  the  poor  have  cried,  Csesar  hath  wept : 

Ambition  should  be  made  of  sterner  stuff: 

Yet  Brutus  says  he  was  ambitious ; 

And  Brutus  is  an  honourable  man. 

You  all  did  see  that  on  the  Lupercal  100 

I  thrice  presented  him  a  kingly  crown, 

Which  he  did  thrice  refuse :  was  this  ambition  ? 

Yet  Brutus  says  he  was  ambitious ; 

And,  sure,  he  is  an  honourable  man. 

I  speak  not  to  disprove  what  Brutus  spoke, 

But  here  I  am  to  speak  what  I  do  know. 

You  all  did  love  him  once,  not  without  cause : 

What  cause  withholds  you  then  to  mourn  for  him  ? 

0  judgement :  thou  art  fled  to  brutish  beasts. 

And  men  have  lost  their  reason.     Bear  with  me;  no 
My  heart  is  in  the  coffin  there  with  Caesar, 
And  I  must  pause  till  it  come  back  to  me. 

First  Cit.  Methinks  there  is  much  reason  in  his  sayings. 

Sec.  Cit.  If  thou  consider  rightly  of  the  matter, 
Caesar  has  had  great  wrong. 

Third  Cit.  Has  he,  masters  ? 

1  fear  there  will  a  worse  come  in  his  place. 

Fourth  Cit.  Mark'd  ye  his  words  ?     He  would  not  take  the 
crown ; 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  III.  Sc.  ii. 

Therefore  'tis  certain  he  was  not  ambitious. 

First  Cit.  If  it  be  found  so,  some  will  dear  abide  it.        119 

Sec.  Cit.  Poor  soul !   his  eyes  are  red  as  fire  with  weeping. 

Third  Cit.  There 's    not    a    nobler    man    in    Rome    than 
Antony. 

Fourth  Cit.  Now  mark  him,  he  begins  again  to  speak. 

Ant.  But  yesterday  the  word  of  C?esar  might 

Have  stood  against  the  world :  now  lies  he  there. 
And  none  so  poor  to  do  him  reverence. 

0  masters,  if  I  were  disposed  to  stir 
Your  hearts  and  minds  to  mutiny  and  rage, 

1  should  do  Brutus  wrong  and  Cassius  wrong 
Who,  you  all  know,  are  honourable  men : 

I  will  not  do  them  wrong  ;   I  rather  choose  130 

To  wrong  the  dead,  to  wrong  myself  and  you. 

Than  I  will  wrong  such  honourable  men. 

But  here  's  a  parchment  with  the  seal  of  Caesar ; 

I  found  it  in  his  closet ;  'tis  his  will : 

Let  but  the  commons  hear  this  testament — 

Which,  pardon  me,  I  do  not  mean  to  read — 

And  they  would  go  and  kiss  dead  Caesar's  wounds 

And  dip  their  napkins  in  his  sacred  blood, 

Yea,  beg  a  hair  of  him  for  memory. 

And,  dying,  mention  it  within  their  wills,  140 

Bequeathing  it  as  a  rich  legacy 

Unto  their  issue. 

Fourth  Cit.  We  '11  hear  the  will :  read  it,  Mark  Antony. 

All.  The  will,  the  will !   we  will  hear  Caesar's  will. 

Ant.  Have  patience,  gentle  friends,  I  must  not  read  it ; 
It  is  not  meet  you  know  how  Caesar  loved  you. 
You  are  not  wood,  you  are  not  stones,  but  men  ; 
And,  being  men,  hearing  the  will  of  Caesar, 

79 


Act  III.  Sc.  ii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

It  will  inflame  you,  it  will  make  you  mad : 

'Tis  good  you  know  not  that  you  are  his  heirs ;      150 

For  if  you  should,  O,  what  would  come  of  it ! 

Fourth  Cit.  Read  the  will ;   we  '11  hear  it,  Antony ; 
You  shall  read  us  the  will,  Caesar's  will. 

Ant.  Will  you  be  patient?   will  you  stay  awhile? 
I  have  o'ershot  myself  to  tell  you  of  it : 
I  fear  I  wrong  the  honourable  men 
Whose  daggers  have  stabb'd  Caesar ;   I  do  fear  it. 

Fourth  Cit.  They  were  traitors  :   honourable  men ! 

All.  The  will!  the  testament ! 

Sec.  Cit.  They  were  villains,  murderers :    the  will !    read 
the  will.  160 

Ant.  You  will  compel  me  then  to  read  the  will  ? 
Then  make  a  ring  about  the  corpse  of  Caesar, 
And  let  me  show  you  him  that  made  the  will. 
Shall  I  descend?   and  will  you  give  me  leave? 

All.  Come  down. 

Sec.  Cit.  Descend.         [He  comes  dozvn  from  the  pulpit. 

Third  Cit.  You  shall  have  leave. 

Fourth  Cit.  A  ring ;  stand  round. 

First  Cit.  Stand  from  the  hearse,  stand  from  the  body. 

Sec.  Cit.  Room  for  Antony,  most  noble  Antony.  170 

Ant.  Nay,  press  not  so  upon  me ;  stand  far  off. 

All  Stand  back.     Room !     Bear  back. 

Ant.  If  you  have  tears,  prepare  to  shed  them  now. 
You  all  do  know  this  mantle :   I  remember 
The  first  time  ever  Caesar  put  it  on  ; 
'Twas  on  a  summer's  evening,  in  his  tent. 
That  day  he  overcame  the  Nervii : 
Look,  in  this  place  ran  Cassius'  dagger  through : 
See  what  a  rent  the  envious  Casca  made : 
80 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  III.  Sc.  ii. 

Through  this  the  well-beloved  Brutus  stabb'd;      i8o 

And  as  he  pluck'd  his  cursed  steel  away, 

Mark  how  the  blood  of  Caesar  follow'd  it, 

As  rushing  out  of  doors,  to  be  resolved 

If  Brutus  so  unkindly  knock'd,  or  no : 

For  Brutus,  as  you  know,  was  Caesar's  angel : 

Judge,  O  you  gods,  how  dearly  Caesar  loved  him. 

This  was  the  most  unkindest  cut  of  all ; 

For  when  the  noble  Caesar  saw  him  stab. 

Ingratitude,  more  strong  than  traitors'  arms,  189 

Quite  vanquish'd  him  :   then  burst  his  mighty  heart ; 

And,  in  his  mantle  muffling  up  his  face. 

Even  at  the  base  of  Pompey's  statue, 

Which  all  the  while  ran  blood,  great  Caesar  fell. 

O,  what  a  fall  was  there,  my  countrymen ! 

Then  I,  and  you,  and  all  of  us  fell  down. 

Whilst  bloody  treason  flourish'd  over  us. 

O,  now  you  weep,  and  I  perceive  you  feel 

The  dint  of  pity :  these  are  gracious  drops. 

Kind  souls,  what  weep  you  when  you  but  behold 

Our  Caesar's  vesture  wounded  ?     Look  you  here,  200 

Here  is  himself,  marr'd,  as  you  see,  with  traitors. 

First  Cit.  O  piteous  spectacle ! 

Sec.  Cit.  O  noble  Caesar ! 

Third  Cit.  O  wofulday! 

Fourth  Cit.  O  traitors,  villains ! 

First  Cit.  O  most  bloody  sight ! 

Sec.  Cit.  We  will  be  revenged. 

All.  Revenge!  About!   Seek!   Burn!   Fire!   Kill! 
Slay !     Let  not  a  traitor  live ! 

Ant.  Stay,  countrymen.  210 

First  Cit.  Peace  there !   hear  the  noble  Antony. 

81 


Act  III.  Sc.  ii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Sec.  Cit.  We  '11  hear  him,   we  '11   follow  him,   we  '11   die 
with  him. 

Ant.  Good  friends,  sweet  friends,  let  me  not  stir  you  up     ^ 
To  such  a  sudden  flood  of  mutiny. 
They  that  have  done  this  deed  are  honourable ; 
What  private  griefs  they  have,  alas,  I  know  not. 
That  made  them  do  it :  they  are  wise  and  honourable, 
And  will,  no  doubt,  with  reasons  answer  you. 
I  come  not,  friends,  to  steal  away  your  hearts :      220 
I  am  no  orator,  as  Brutus  is  ; 
But,  as  you  know  me  all,  a  plain  blunt  man. 
That  love  my  friend ;  and  that  they  know  full  well 
That  gave  me  public  leave  to  speak  of  him : 
For  I  have  neither  wit,  nor  words,  nor  worth, 
Action,  nor  utterance,  nor  the  power  of  speech. 
To  stir  men's  blood :   I  only  speak  right  on ; 
I  tell  you  that  which  you  yourselves  do  know ; 
Show  your  sweet  Caesar's  wounds,  poor  poor  dumb 

mouths. 
And  bid  them  speak  for  me :  but  were  I  Brutus,  230 
•    And  Brutus  Antony,  there  were  an  Antony 
Would  ruffle  up  your  spirits,  and  put  a  tongue 
In  every  wound  of  Caesar,  that  should  move 
The  stones  of  Rome  to  rise  and  mutiny. 

All  We  '11  mutiny. 

First  Cit.  We  '11  burn  the  house  of  Brutus. 

Third  Cit.  Away,  then!   come,  seek  the  conspirators. 

Ant.  Yet  hear  me,  countrymen  ;   yet  hear  me  speak. 

All.  Peace,  ho!     Hear  Antony.     Most  noble  Antony! 

Ant.  Why,  friends,  you  go  to  do  you  know  not  what : 

Wherein  hath  Caesar  thus  deserved  your  loves  ?     241 
Alas,  you  know  not ;  I  must  tell  you  then  : 
82 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  III.  Sc.  ii. 

You  have  forgot  the  will  I  told  you  of. 

All.  Most  true :  the  will !     Let  's  stay  and  hear  the  will. 

Attt.  Here  is  the  will,  and  under  Caesar's  seal. 
To  every  Roman  citizen  he  gives, 
To  every  several  man,  seventy-five  drachmas. 

Sec.  Cit.  Most  noble  Caesar !   we  '11  revenge  his  death. 

Third  Cit.  O  royal  Caesar ! 

Ant.  Hear  me  with  patience.  250 

All.  Peace,  ho! 

Ant.  Moreover,  he  hath  left  you  all  his  walks, 

His  private  arbours  and  new-planted  orchards, 
On  this  side  Tiber ;   he  hath  left  them  you. 
And  to  your  heirs  for  ever ;   common  pleasures, 
To  walk  abroad  and  recreate  yourselves. 
Here  was  a  Caesar !  when  comes  such  another  ? 

First  Cit.  Never,  never.     Come,  away,  away ! 
We  '11  burn  his  body  in  the  holy  place, 
And  with  the  brands  fire  the  traitors'  houses.        260 
Take  up  the  body. 

Sec.  Cit.  Go  fetch  fire. 

Third  Cit.  Pluck  down  benches. 

Fourth  Cit.  Pluck  down  forms,  windows,  any  thing. 

[Exeunt  Citizens  with  the  body. 

Ant.  Now  let  it  work.     Mischief,  thou  art  afoot. 
Take  thou  what  course  thou  wilt. 

Enter  a  Servant. 

How  now,  fellow ! 
Serv.  Sir,  Octavius  is  already  come  to  Rome. 
Ant.  Where  is  he? 

Serv.  He  and  Lepidus  are  at  Caesar's  house. 
Ant.  And  thither  will  I  straight  to  visit  him.  270 

83 


Act  III.  Sc.  iii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

He  comes  upon  a  wish.     Fortune  is  merry, 

And  in  this  mood  will  give  us  any  thing. 
Scrv.  I  heard  him  say,  Brutus  and  Cassius 

Are  rid  like  madmen  through  the  gates  of  Rome. 
Ant.  Belike  they  had  some  notice  of  the  people, 

How  I  had  moved  them.     Bring  me  to  Octavius. 

[Exeunt. 

Scene  III. 

A  street. 

Enter  Cinna  the  poet. 

Cin.  I  dreamt  to-night  that  I  did  feast  with  Caesar, 
And  things  unluckily  charge  my  fantasy  : 
I  have  no  will  to  wander  forth  of  doors, 
Yet  something  leads  me  forth. 

Enter  Citizens. 

First  Cit.  What  is  your  name  ? 

See.  Cit.  Whither  are  you  going? 

Third  Cit.  Where  do  you  dwell  ? 

Fourth  Cit.  Are  you  a  married  man  or  a  bachelor? 

SeCo  Cit.  Answer  every  man  directly. 

First  Cit.  Ay,  and  briefly.  lo 

Fourth  Cit.  Ay,  and  wisely. 

Third  Cit.  Ay,  and  truly,  you  were  best. 

Cin.  What  is  my  name?  Whither  am  I  going?  Where 

do  I  dwell ?     Am  I  a  married  man  or  a  bachelor? 

Then,  to  answer  every  man  directly  and  briefly, 

wisely  and  truly :   wisely  I  say,  I  am  a  bachelor. 
Sec.  Cit.  That 's  as  much  as  to  say,  they  are  fools 

that  marry :    you  '11  bear  me  a  bang  for  that, 

I  fear.     Proceed ;   directly. 

84 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  IV.  Sc.  i. 

Cin.  Directly,  I  am  going  to  Caesar's  funeral.  20 

First  Cit.  As  a  friend  or  an  enemy  ? 

Cin.  As  a  friend. 

Sec.  Cit.  That  matter  is  answered  directly. 

Fourth  Cit.  For  your  dwelling,  briefly. 

Cin.  Briefly,  I  dwell  by  the  Capitol. 

Third  Cit.  Your  name,  sir,  truly. 

Cin.  Truly,  my  name  is  Cinna. 

First  Cit.  Tear  him  to  pieces  ;   he  's  a  conspirator. 

Cin.  I  am  Cinna  the  poet,  I  am  Cinna  the  poet. 

Fourth  Cit.  Tear  him  for  his  bad  verses,  tear  him  for 

his  bad  verses.  30 

Cin.  I  am  not  Cinna  the  conspirator. 
Fourth  Cit.  It  is  no  matter,  his  name  's  Cinna  ;  pluck 

but  his  name  out  of  his  heart,  and  turn  him  going. 
Third  Cit.  Tear  him,  tear  him  !     Come,  brands,  ho ! 

fire-brands :    to  Brutus',  to  Cassius' ;    burn  all : 

some  to  Decius'  house,  and  some  to  Casca's; 

some  to  Ligarius' :  away,  go !  [^Exeunt. 


ACT  FOURTH. 
Scene  I. 

A  house  in  Rome. 

Antony,  Octavius,  and  Lepidus,  seated  at  a  table. 

Ant.  These  many  then  shall  die ;   their  names  are  prick'd. 
Oct.  Your  brother  too  must  die  ;  consent  you,  Lepidus  ? 
Lep.  I  do  consent — 

Oct.  Prick  him  down,  Antony. 

Lep.  Upon  condition  Publius  shall  not  live, 
Who  is  your  sister's  son,  ]\Iark  Antony. 

85 


Act  IV.  Sc.  i.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Ant.  He  shall  not  live ;  look,  with  a  spot  I  damn  him. 
^    But,  Lepidus,  go  you  to  Caesar's  house ; 

Fetch  the  will  hither,  and  we  shall  determine 
How  to  cut  off  some  charge  in  legacies. 

Lep.  What,  shall  I  find  you  here?  lo 

Oct.  Or  here,  or  at  the  Capitol.  [Exit  Lepidus. 

Ant.  This  is  a  slight  unmeritable  man, 
Meet  to  be  sent  on  errands :   is  it  fit, 
The  three-fold  world  divided,  he  should  stand 
One  of  the  three  to  share  it  ? 

Oct.  So  you  thought  him, 

And  took  his  voice  who  should  be  prick'd  to  die 
In  our  black  sentence  and  proscription. 

Ant.  Octavius,  I  have  seen  more  days  than  you: 
And  though  we  lay  these  honours  on  this  man. 
To  ease  ourselves  of  divers  slanderous  loads,  20 

He  shall  but  bear  them  as  the  ass  bears  gold, 
To  groan  and  sweat  under  the  business. 
Either  led  or  driven,  as  we  point  the  way ; 
And  having  brought  our  treasure  where  we  will, 
Then  take  we  down  his  load  and  turn  him  off, 
Like  to  the  empty  ass,  to  shake  his  ears 
And  graze  in  commons. 

Oct.  You  may  do  your  will : 

But  he  's  a  tried  and  valiant  soldier. 

Ant.  So  is  my  horse,  Octavius,  and  for  that 

I  do  appoint  him  store  of  provender:  30 

It  is  a  creature  that  I  teach  to  fight, 

To  wind,  to  stop,  to  run  directly  on. 

His  corporal  motion  govern'd  by  my  spirit. 

And,  in  some  taste,  is  Lepidus  but  so ; 

He  must  be  taught,  and  train'd,  and  bid  go  forth ; 

86 


JULIUS  CAESAR  ^  Act  IV.  Sc.  ii. 

A  barren-spirited  fellow ;  one  that  feeds 
On  abjects,  orts  and  imitations, 
Which,  out  of  use  and  staled  by  other  men, 
Begin  his  fashion :   do  not  talk  of  him 
But  as  a  property.     And  now,  Octavius,  40 

Listen  great  things  :   Brutus  and  Cassius 
Are  levying  powers  :  we  must  straight  make  head  : 
Therefore  let  our  alliance  be  combined. 
Our  best  friends  made,  our  means  stretch'd ; 
And  let  us  presently  go  sit  in  council, 
How  covert  matters  may  be  best  disclosed, 
And  open  perils  surest  answered. 
Oct.  Let  us  do  so :  for  we  are  at  the  stake, 
And  bay'd  about  with  many  enemies ; 
And  some  that  smile  have  in  their  hearts,  I  fear,      50 
Millions  of  mischiefs.  [Exeunt. 

Scene  II. 

Camp  near  Sardis.     Before  Brutus  s  tent. 

Drum.     Enter  Brutus,  Lucilius,  Lucius,  and  Soldiers; 
Titinitis  and  Pindarus  meet  them. 

Bru.  Stand,  ho ! 

Lucil.  Give  the  word,  ho !  and  stand. 

Bru.  What  now,  Lucilius  !  is  Cassius  near  ? 

Lucil.  He  is  at  hand ;  and  Pindarus  is  come 
To  do  you  salutation  from  his  master. 

Bru.  He  greets  me  well.     Your  master,  Pindarus, 
In  his  own  change,  or  by  ill  officers, 
Hath  given  me  some  worthy  cause  to  wish 
Things  done  undone :   but  if  he  be  at  hand, 
I  shall  be  satisfied. 

87 


Act  IV.  Sc.  ii.  ^        THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

PijL  I  do  not  doubt  lo 

But  that  my  noble  master  will  appear 
Such  as  he  is,  full  of  regard  and  honour. 

Bru.  He  is  not  doubted.     A  word,  Lucilius, 
How  he  received  you :  let  me  be  resolved. 

Liicil.  With  courtesy  and  with  respect  enough; 
But  not  with  such  familiar  instances, 
Nor  with  such  free  and  friendly  conference, 
As  he  hath  used  of  old. 

Bru.  Thou  hast  described 

A  hot  friend  cooling :   ever  note,  Lucilius, 
When  love  begins  to  sicken  and  decay,  20 

It  useth  an  enforced  ceremony. 
There  are  no  tricks  in  plain  and  simple  faith : 
But  hollow  men,  like  horses  hot  at  hand. 
Make  gallant  show  and  promise  of  their  mettle ; 
But  when  they  should  endure  the  bloody  spur. 
They  fall  their  crests  and  like  deceitful  jades 
Sink  in  the  trial.     Comes  his  army  on  ? 

Liicil.  They  mean  this  night  in  Sardis  to  be  quarter 'd  ; 
The  greater  part,  the  horse  in  general, 
Are  come  with  Cassius.  [Low  march  zvithiji. 

Bru.  Hark !   he  is  arrived :  3c 

March  gently  on  to  meet  him. 

Enter  Cassius  and  his  power. 

Cas.  Stand,  ho! 

Bru.  Stand,  ho  !     Speak  the  word  along. 

First  Sol  Stand ! 

Sec.  Sol  Stand ! 

Third  Sol   Stand! 

Cas.  Most  noble  brother,  you  have  done  me  wrong. 

m 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  IV.  Sc.  iii. 

B?'u.  Judge  me,  you  gods !   wrong  I  mine  enemies  ? 

And,  if  not  so,  how  should  I  wrong  a  brother? 
Cas.  Brutus,  this  sober  form  of  yours  hides  wrongs  ;      40 

And  when  you  do  them — 
Bni.  Cassius,  be  content ; 

Speak  your  griefs  softly :  I  do  know  you  well. 

Before  the  eyes  of  both  our  armies  here. 

Which  should  perceive  nothing  but  love  from  us, 

Let  us  not  wrangle :   bid  them  move  away ; 

Then  in  my  tent,  Cassius,  enlarge  your  griefs, 

And  I  will  give  you  audience. 
Cas.  Pindarus, 

Bid  our  commanders  lead  their  charges  off 

A  little  from  this  ground. 
Bru.  Lucilius,  do  you  the  like,  and  let  no  man  50 

Come  to  our  tent  till  we  have  done  our  conference. 

Let  Lucius  and  Titinius  guard  our  door.       [Exeunt. 

Scene  III, 

Briitiis's  tent. 
Enter  Brutus  and  Cassius. 

Cas.  That  you  have  wrong'd  me  doth  appear  in  this : 
You  have  condemn'd  and  noted  Lucius  Pella 
For  taking  bribes  here  of  the  Sardians  : 
Wherein  my  letters,  praying  on  his  side. 
Because  I  knew^  the  man,  were  slighted  off. 

Bru.  You  wrong'd  yourself  to  write  in  such  a  case. 

Cas.  In  such  a  time  as  this  it  is  not  meet 

That  every  nice  offence  should  bear  his  comment. 

Bru.  Let  me  tell  you,  Cassius,  you  yourself 

Are  much  condemn'd  to  have  an  itching  palm,         10 

89      « 


Act  IV.  Sc.  iii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

To  sell  and  mart  your  offices  for  gold 
To  undeservers. 

Cas.  I  an  itching  palm  ! 

You  know  that  you  are  Brutus  that  speaks  this, 
Or,  by  the  gods,  this  speech  were  else  your  last. 

Bni.  The  name  of  Cassius  honours  this  corruption, 
And  chastisement  doth  therefore  hide  his  head. 

Cas.  Chastisement ! 

Bru.  Remember  March,  the  ides  of  March  remember: 
Did  not  great  JuHus  bleed  for  justice'  sake? 
What  villain  touch'd  his  body,  that  did  stab,  20 

And  not  for  justice?    What,  shall  one  of  us, 
That  struck  the  foremost  man  of  all  this  world 
But  for  supporting  robbers,  shall  we  now 
Contaminate  our  fingers  with  base  bribes. 
And  sell  the  mighty  space  of  our  large  honours 
For  so  much  trash  as  may  be  grasped  thus  ? 
I  had  rather  be  a  dog,  and  bay  the  moon, 
Than  such  a  Roman. 

Cas.  Brutus,  bait  not  me ; 

I  '11  not  endure  it :   you  forget  yourself, 
To  hedge  me  in  ;  I  am  a  soldier,  I,  30 

Older  in  practice,  abler  than  yourself 
To  make  conditions. 

Bru.  Go  to;  you  are  not,  Cassius. 

Cas.  I  am. 

Bru.  I  say  you  are  not. 

Cas.  Urge  me  no  more,  I  shall  forget  myself ; 

Have  mind  upon  your  health,  tempt  me  no  farther. 

Bru.  Away,  slight  man! 

Cas.  Is  't  possible? 

Bru,  Hear  me,  for  I  will  speak. 

•       90 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  IV.  Sc.  Hi. 

Must  T  give  way  and  room  to  your  rash  choler  ? 
Shall  I  be  frighted  when  a  madman  stares  ?  40 

Cas.  O  ye  gods,  ye  gods !  must  I  endure  all  this  ? 

Bru.  All  this  !  ay,  more :  fret  till  your  proud  heart  break  ; 
Go  show  your  slaves  how  choleric  you  are, 
And  make  your  bondmen  tremble.     Must  I  budge  ? 
Must  I  observe  you  ?  must  I  stand  and  crouch 
Under  your  testy  humour?     By  the  gods,  ^ 

You  shall  digest  the  venom  of  your  spleen, 
Though  it  do  split  you  ;   for,  from  this  day  forth, 
I  '11  use  you  for  my  mirth,  yea,  for  my  laughter. 
When  you  are  waspish. 

Cas.  Is  it  come  to  this  ?  50 

Bru.  You  say  you  are  a  better  soldier : 

Let  it  appear  so  ;  make  your  vaunting  true. 
And  it  shall  please  me  well :   for  mine  own  part, 
I  shall  be  glad  to  learn  of  noble  men. 

Cas.  You  wrong  me  every  way ;  you  wrong  me,  Brutus  ; 
I  said,  an  elder  soldier,  not  a  better : 
Did  I  say,  better? 

Bru.  If  you  did,  I  care  not. 

Cas.  When  Caesar  lived,  he  durst  not  thus  have  moved  me. 

Bru.  Peace,  peace !  you  durst  not  so  have  tempted  him. 

Cas.  I  durst  not !  60 

Bru.  No. 

Cas.  What,  durst  not  tempt  him ! 

Bru.  For  your  life  you  durst  not. 

Cas.  Do  not  presume  too  much  upon  my  love ; 
I  may  do  that  I  shall  be  sorry  for. 

Bru.  You  have  done  that  you  should  be  sorry  for. 
There  is  no  terror,  Cassius,  in  your  threats ; 
For  I  am  arm'd  so  strong  in  honesty, 

91       . 


Act  IV.  Sc.  ill.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

That  they  pass  by  me  as  the  idle  wind 

Which  I  respect  not.     I  did  send  to  you 

For  certain  sums  of  gold,  which  you  denied  me :     70 

For  I  can  raise  no  money  by  vile  means : 

By  heaven,  I  had  rather  coin  my  heart. 

And  drop  my  blood  for  drachmas,  than  to  wring 

From  the  hard  hands  of  peasants  their  vile  trash 

By  any  indirection.    ,1  did  send 

To  you  for  gold  to  pay  my  legions, 

Which  you  denied  me :  was  that  done  like  Cassius  ? 

Should  I  have  answer'd  Caius  Cassius  so? 

W^hen  Marcus  Brutus  grows  so  covetous, 

To  lock  such  rascal  counters  from  his  friends,         80 

Be  ready,  gods,  with  all  your  thunderbolts, 

Dash  him  to  pieces ! 

Cas.  I  denied  you  not. 

Bru.  You  did. 

Cas.  I  did  not :  he  was  but  a  fool 

That  brought  my  answer  back.     Brutus  hath  rived 

my  heart : 
A  friend  should  bear  his  friend's  infirmities, 
But  Brutus  makes  mine  greater  than  they  are. 

Bill.  I  do  not,  till  you  practise  them  on  me. 

Cas.  Lou  love  me  not. 

Bru.  I  do  not  like  your  faults. 

Cas.  A  friendly  eye  could  never  see  such  faults.  90 

Bru.  A  flatterer's  would  not,  though  they  do  appear 
As  huge  as  high  Olympus. 

Cas.  Come,  Antony,  and  young  Octavius,  come, 
Revenge  yourselves  alone  on  Cassius, 
For  Cassius  is  aweary  of  the  world ; 
Hated  by  one  he  loves ;  braved  by  his  brother ; 
92 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  IV.  Sc.  iii. 

Check'd  like  a  bondman ;   all  his  faults  observed, 

Set  in  a  note-book,  learn'd  and  conn'd  by  rote. 

To  cast  into  my  teeth.    O,  I  could  weep 

My  spirit  from  mine  eyes !     There  is  my  dagger,  loo 

And  here  my  naked  breast ;  within,  a  heart 

Dearer  than  Plutus'  mine,  richer  than  gold  : 

If  that  thou  be'st  a  Roman,  take  it  forth ; 

I  that  denied  thee  gold,  will  give  my  heart : 

Strike,  as  thou  didst  at  Caesar ;  for  I  know. 

When  thou  didst  hate  him  worst,  thou  lovedst  him 

better 
Than  ever  thou  lovedst  Cassius. 

Bru.  Sheathe  your  dagger  : 

Be  angry  when  you  will,  it  shall  have  scope; 
Do  what  3^ou  will,  dishonour  shall  be  humour. 
O  Cassius,  you  are  yoked  with  a  lamb,  no 

That  carries  anger  as  the  flint  bears  fire. 
Who,  much  enforced,  shows  a  hasty  spark 
And  straight  is  cold  again. 

Cas.  Hath  Cassius  lived 

To  be  but  mirth  and  laughter  to  his  Brutus, 
When  grief  and  blood  ill-temper'd  vexeth  him. 

Brii.  When  I  spoke  that,  I  was  ill-temper'd  too. 

Cas.  Do  you  confess  so  much  ?    Give  me  your  hand. 

Bru.  And  my  heart  too. 

Cas.  O  Brutus! 

Bru.  What 's  the  matter  ? 

Cas.  Have  not  you  love  enough  to  bear  with  me,  119 

When  that  rash  humour  which  my  mother  gave  me 
Makes  me  forgetful  ? 

Bru.  Yes,  Cassius,  and  from  henceforth, 

When  you  are  over-earnest  with  your  Brutus, 

93 


Act  IV.  Sc.  iii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

He  '11  think  your  mother  chides,  and  leave  you  so. 
Poet.    [Within]  Let  me  go  in  to  see  the  generals ; 

There  is  some  grudge  between  'em ;  'tis  not  meet 
Thev  be  alone. 


uci 


I.    \  Within]   You  shall  not  come  to  them. 


Poet.    [Within]    Nothing  but  death  shall  stay  me. 

Enter  Poet,  followed  by  Lneilius,  Titinius,  and  Lucius. 

Cas.  How  now  !    What 's  the  matter  ? 

Poet.  For  shame,  you  generals!   what  do  you  mean?     130 

Love,  and  be  friends,  as  two  such  men  should  be : 

For  I  have  seen  more  years,  I  'm  sure,  than  ye. 
Cas.  Ha,  ha !   how  vilely  doth  this  cynic  rhyme ! 
Bru.  Get  you  hence,  sirrah;  saucy  fellow,  hence! 
Cas.  Bear  with  him,  Brutus ;   'tis  his  fashion. 
Bru.  I  '11  know  his  humour  when  he  knows  his  time : 

What  should  the  wards  do  with  these  jigging  fools? 

Companion,  hence ! 
Cas.  Away,  away,  be  gone!   [E.vit  Poet. 

Bru.  Lucilius  and  Titinius,  bid  the  commanders 

Prepare  to  lodge  their  companies  to-night.  140 

Cas.  And  come  yourselves,  and  bring  Messala  with  you 

Immediately  to  us.       [Exeunt  LueUius  end  Titinius. 
Bru.  Lucius,  a  bowl  of  wine  !  [Exit  Lueius. 

Cas.  I  did  not  think  you  could  have  been  so  angry. 
Bru.  O  Cassius,  I  am  sick  of  many  griefs. 
Cas.  Of  your  philosophy  you  make  no  use. 

If  you  give  place  to  accidental  evils. 
Bru.  No  man  bears  sorrow  better :  Portia  is  dead. 
Cas.  Ha!   Portia! 
Brit.  She  is  dead. 
Cas.  How  'scaped  I  killing  when  I  cross'd  you  so?      150 

94 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  IV.  Sc.  iii. 

0  insupportable  and  touching  loss ! 
Upon  what  sickness  ? 

Bru.  Impatient  of  my  absence, 

And  grief  that  young  Octavius  with  Mark  Antony 
Have  made  themselves  so  strong :   for  with  her  death 
That  tidings  came :  with  this  she  fell  distract, 
And,  her  attendants  absent,  swallow'd  fire. 

Cas.  And  died  so? 

Bru.  Even  so. 

Cas.  O  ye  immortal  gods  ! 

Re-enter  Lucius,  liith  zvine  and  taper. 

Bru.  Speak  no  more  of  her.    Give  me  a  bowl  of  wine. 

In  this  I  bury  all  unkindness,  Cassius.  [Drinks. 

Cas.  My  heart  is  thirsty  for  that  noble  pledge.  i6o 

Fill,  Lucius,  till  the  wine  o'erswell  the  cup ; 

1  cannot  drink  too  much  of  Brutus'  love.         [Drinks. 
Bru.  Come  in,  Titinius!  [Exit  Lucius. 

Re-enter  Titinius,  with  Mcssala. 

Welcome,  good  Messala. 
Now  sit  we  close  about  this  taper  here, 
And  call  in  question  our  necessities. 

Cas.  Portia,  art  thou  gone  ? 

Bru.  No  more,  I  pray  you. 

Messala,  I  have  here  received  letters, 
That  young  Octavius  and  Mark  Antony 
Come  down  upon  us  with  a  mighty  power, 
Bending  their  expedition  toward  Philippi.  170 

Mes.  Myself  have  letters  of  the  self-same  tenour. 

Bru.  With  what  addition  ? 

Mes.  That  by  proscription  and  bills  of  outlawry 

95 


Act  IV.  Sc.  iii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Octavins,  Antony  and  Lepidus, 

Have  put  to  death  an  hundred  senators. 
Bru.  Therein  our  letters  do  not  well  agree; 

Mine  speak  of  seventy  senators  that  died 

By  their  proscriptions,  Cicero  being  one. 
Cas.  Cicero  one ! 
Mes.  Cicero  is  dead, 

And  by  that  order  of  proscription.  i8o 

Had  you  your  letters  from  your  wife,  my  lord? 
Bru.  No,  Messala. 

Mes.  Nor  nothing  in  your  letters  writ  of  her? 
Bru.  Nothing,  Messala. 

Mes.  That,  methinks,  is  strange. 

B7"ii.  Why  ask  you  ?  hear  you  aught  of  her  in  yours  ? 
Mes.  No,  my  lord. 

Brit.  Now,  as  you  are  a  Roman,  tell  me  true. 
Mes.  Then  like  a  Roman  bear  the  truth  I  tell : 

For  certain  she  is  dead,  and  by  strange  manner. 
Bru.  Why,  farewell,  Portia.     We  must  die,  Messala  : 

With  meditating  that  she  must  die  once  191 

I  have  the  patience  to  endure  it  now. 
Mes.  Even  so  great  men  great  losses  should  endure. 
Cas.  I  have  as  much  of  this  in  art  as  you, 

But  yet  my  nature  could  not  bear  it  so. 
Bru.  Well,  to  our  work  alive.    What  do  you  think 

Of  marching  to  Philippi  presently? 
Cas.  I  do  not  think  it  good. 
Bru.  Your  reason? 

Cas.  This  it  is : 

'Tis  better  that  the  enemy  seek  us : 

So  shall  he  waste  his  means,  weary  his  soldiers,    200 

Doing  himself  offence ;   whilst  we  lying  still 

96 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  IV.  Sc.  iii. 

Are  full  of  rest,  defence  and  nimbleness. 
Bru.  Good  reasons  must  of  force  give  place  to  better. 

The  people  'twixt  Philippi  and  this  ground 

Do  stand  but  in  a  forced  affection, 

For  they  have  grudged  us  contribution  : 

The  enemy,  marching  along  by  them, 

By  them  shall  make  a  fuller  number  up, 

Come  on  refresh'd,  new-added  and  encouraged ; 

From  which  advantage  shall  we  cut  him  off  210 

If  at  Philippi  we  do  face  him  there, 

These  people  at  our  back. 
Cas.  Hear  me,  good  brother. 

Brji.  Under  your  pardon.     You  must  note  beside 

That  we  have  tried  the  utmost  of  our  friends, 

Our  legions  are  brim-full,  our  cause  is  ripe : 

The  enemy  increaseth  every  day  ; 

We,  at  the  height,  are  ready  to  decline. 

There  is  a  tide  in  the  aff'airs  of  men 

Which  taken  at  the  flood  leads  on  to  fortune ; 

Omitted,  all  the  voyage  of  their  life  220 

Is  bound  in  shallows  and  in  miseries. 

On  such  a  full  sea  are  we  now  afloat. 

And  we  must  take  the  current  when  it  serves. 

Or  lose  our  ventures. 
Cas.  Then,  with  your  will,  go  on  ; 

We  '11  along  ourselves  and  meet  them  at  Philippi. 
Bni.  The  deep  of  night  is  crept  upon  our  talk, 

And  nature  must  obey  necessity  ; 

Which  we  will  niggard  with  a  little  rest. 

There  is  no  more  to  say? 
Cas.  Xo  more.     Good  night : 

Early  to-morrow  will  we  rise  and  hence.  230 

97 


Act  IV.  Sc.  iii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Brit.  Lucius!    [Re-enter  Lucius.]   My  gown.    [Exit  Lu- 
cius.]    Farewell,  good  Messala : 

Good  night,  Titinius  :  noble,  noble  Cassius, 

Good  night,  and  good  repose. 
Cas.  O  my  dear  brother ! 

This  was  an  ill  beginning  of  the  night : 

Never  come  such  division  'tween  our  souls ! 

Let  it  not,  Brutus. 
Bru.  Every  thing  is  well. 

Cas.  Good  night,  my  lord. 

Bru.  Good  night,  good  brother. 

Tit.  Mes.  Good  night.  Lord  Brutus. 

Bru.  Farewell,  every  one. 

[Exeu)it  all  but  Brutus. 

Re-enter  Lucius,  with  the  gown. 

Give  me  the  gown.     \A'here  is  thy  instrument? 
Luc.  Here  in  the  tent. 
Bru.  What,  thou  speak'st  drowsily?  240 

Poor  knave,  I  blame  thee  not ;  thou  art  o'er-watch'd. 

Call  Claudius  and  some  other  of  my  men ; 

I  '11  have  them  sleep  on  cushions  in  my  tent. 
Luc.  Varro  and  Claudius  ! 

Enter  Varro  and  Claudius. 

Var.  Calls  my  lord? 

Bru.  I  pray  you,  sirs,  lie  in  my  tent  and  sleep ; 

It  may  be  I  shall  raise  you  by  and  by 

On  business  to  my  brother  Cassius. 
Var.  So  please  you,  we  will  stand  and  watch  your  pleasure. 
Bru.  I  will  not  have  it  so :  lie  down,  good  sirs  ;  250 

It  may  be  I  shall  otherwise  bethink  me. 
98 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  IV.  Sc.  iii. 

Look,  Lucius,  here  's  the  book  I  sought  for  so ; 
I  put  it  in  the  pocket  of  my  gown. 

[Var.  and  Clan,  lie  down. 

Luc.  I  was  sure  your  lordship  did  not  give  it  me. 

Brii.  Bear  with  me,  good  boy,  I  am  much  forgetful. 
Canst  thou  hold  up  thy  heavy  eyes  awhile, 
And  touch  thy  instrument  a  strain  or  two  ? 

Luc.  Ay,  my  lord,  an  't  please  you. 

Brii.  It  does,  my  boy  : 

I  trouble  thee  too  much,  but  thou  art  willing. 

Luc.  It  is  my  duty,  sir.  260 

Bru.  I  should  not  urge  thy  duty  past  thy  might ; 
I  know  young  bloods  look  for  a  time  of  rest. 

Luc.  I  have  slept,  my  lord,  already. 

Bru.  It  was  well  done ;   and  thou  shalt  sleep  again ; 
I  will  not  hold  thee  long :   if  I  do  live, 
I  will  be  good  to  thee.  [Music,  and  a  song. 

This  is  a  sleepy  tune.    O  murderous  slumber, 
Lay'st  thou  thy  leaden  mace  upon  my  boy. 
That  plays  thee  music?    Gentle  knave,  good  night ; 
I  will  not  do  thee  so  much  wrong  to  w^ake  thee :      270 
If  thou  dost  nod,  thou  break'st  thy  instrument ; 
I  '11  take  it  from  thee ;  and,  good  boy,  good  night. 
Let  me  see,  let  me  see ;  is  not  the  leaf  turn'd  down 
Where  I  left  reading?    Here  it  is,  I  think. 

[Sits  down. 

Enter  the  Ghost  of  Ccrsar. 

How  ill  this  taper  bums  !    Ha  !  who  comes  here  ? 
I  think  it  is  the  weakness  of  mine  eyes 
That  shapes  this  monstrous  apparition. 
It  comes  upon  me.     Art  thou  any  thing? 

99 


Act  IV.  Sc.  iii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Art  thou  some  god,  some  an^^el,  or  some  devil. 

That  makest  my  blood  cold,  and  my  hair  to  stare  ? 

Speak  to  me  what  thou  art.  281 

Ghost.  Thy  evil  spirit,  Brutus. 
Bni.  Why  comest  thou? 

Ghost.  To  tell  thee  thou  shalt  see  me  at  Philippi. 
Bru.  Well ;  then  I  shall  see  thee  again  ? 
Ghost.  Ay,  at  Philippi. 
Bru.  Why,  I  will  see  thee  at  Philippi  then. 

[Exit  Ghost. 

Now  I  have  taken  heart  thou  vanishest. 

Ill  spirit,  I  would  hold  more  talk  with  thee. 

Boy,  Lucius  !   Varro  !    Claudius  !    Sirs,  awake  ! 

Claudius ! 
Lite.  The  strings,  my  lord,  are  false.  290 

Brn.  He  thinks  he  still  is  at  his  instrument. 

Lucius,  awake! 
Luc.  My  lord? 

Bru.  Didst  thou  dream,  Lucius,  that  thou  so  criedst  out? 
Luc.  My  lord,  I  do  not  know  that  I  did  cry. 
Bru.  Yes,  that  thou  didst:   didst  thou  see  any  thing? 
Luc.  Nothing,  my  lord. 
Bru.  vSleep  again,  Lucius.     Sirrah  Claudius  !  300 

[To  Var.]   Fellow  thou,  awake! 
Far.  My  lord? 
Clan.  MVlord? 

B7'u.  Why  did  you  so  cry  out,  sirs,  in  your  sleep  ? 
Var.  Clau.  Did  we,  my  lord? 

Bru.  Ay:   saw  you  any  thing? 

Var.  No,  my  lord,  I  saw  nothing. 
Clan.  Nor  I,  my  lord. 

Bru,  Go  and  commend  me  to  my  brother  Cassius ; 

100 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  V.  Sc.  i. 

Bid  him  set  on  his  powers  betimes  before, 
And  we  will  follow. 
Var.  Clan.  it  shall  be  done,  my  lord.     [Exeunt. 


ACT  FIFTH. 

Scene  I. 

The  plains  of  PhilippL 
Enter  Octaz'ius,  Antony,  and  their  army. 

Oct.  Now,  Antony,  our  hopes  are  answered : 

You  said  the  enemy  would  not  come  down. 

But  keep  the  hills  and  upper  regions ; 

It  proves  not  so :  their  battles  are  at  hand ; 

They  mean  to  warn  us  at  Philippi  here, 

Answering  before  we  do  demand  of  them. 
Ant.  Tut,  I  am  in  their  bosoms,  and  I  know 

Wherefore  they  do  it :  they  could  be  content 

To  visit  other  places  ;  and  come  down 

With  fearful  bravery,  thinking  by  this  face  lo 

To  fasten  in  our  thoughts  that  they  have  courage ; 

But  'tis  not  so. 

Enter  a  Messenger. 

Mess.  Prepare  you,  generals : 

The  enemy  comes  on  in  gallant  show  ; 

Their  bloody  sign  of  battle  is  hung  out, 

And  something  to  be  done  immediately. 
Ant.  Octavius,  lead  your  battle  softly  on. 

Upon  the  left  hand  of  the  even  field. 
Oct.  Upon  the  right  hand  I ;  keep  thou  the  left. 
Ant.  Why  do  you  cross  me  in  this  exigent? 
Oct.  I  do  not  cross  you  ;  but  I  will  do  so.         [March.  20 

lOI 


Act  V.  Sc.  i.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Drum.     Enter  Brutus,  Cassins,  and  their  army; 
Lueilius,  Titinins,  Messala,  and  others. 

Bru.  They  stand,  and  would  have  parley. 
Cas.   Stand  fast,  Titinius :    we  must  out  an»^  talk. 
Oct.  Mark  Antony,  shall  we  give  sign  of  battle? 
Ant.  No,  Caesar,  we  will  answer  on  their  charge. 

Make  forth ;  the  generals  would  have  some  words. 
Oct.  Stir  not  until  the  signal. 
Bru.  Words  before  blows :   is  it  so,  countrymen  ? 
Oct.  Not  that  we  love  words  better,  as  you  do. 
Bni.  Good  words  are  better  than  bad  strokes,  Octavius. 
Ant.  In  your  bad  strokes,  Brutus,  you  give  good  words  : 

Witness  the  hole  you  made  in  Caesar's  heart,  31 

Crying  '  Long  live !  hail,  Caesar ! ' 
Cas.  Antony, 

The  posture  of  your  blows  are  yet  unknown  ; 

But  for  your  words,  they  rob  the  Hybla  bees, 

And  leave  them  honeyless. 
Ant.  Not  stingless  too. 

Bru.  O,  yes,  and  soundless  too ; 

For  you  have  stol'n  their  buzzing,  Antony, 
And  very  wisely  threat  before  you  sting. 

Ant.  Villains,  you  did  not  so,  when  your  vile  daggers 

Hack'd  one  another  in  the  sides  of  Caesar :  40 

You  show'd  your  teeth  like  apes,  and  fawn'd  like 

hounds, 
And  bow'd  like  bondmen,  kissing  Caesar's  feet  ; 
Whilst  damned  Casca,  like  a  cur,  behind 
Struck  Caesar  on  the  neck.    O,  you  flatterers ! 

Cas.  Flatterers!    Now,  Brutus,  thank  yourself : 
This  tongue  had  not  offended  so  to-day, 

102 


JULIUS  CAESAR  "^  Act  V.  Sc.  i. 

If  Cassius  might  have  ruled. 
Oct.  Come,  come,  the  cause:  if  arguing  make  us  sweat, 

The  proof  of  it  will  turn  to  redder  drops. 

Look;  50 

I  draw  a  sword  against  conspirators ; 

When  think  you  that  the  sword  goes  up  again? 

Never,  till  Caesar's  three  and  thirty  w^ounds 

Be  well  avenged,  or  till  another  Caesar 

Have  added  slaughter  to  the  sword  of  traitors. 
Brii.  Csesar,  thou  canst  not  die  by  traitors'  hands, 

Unless  thou  bring'st  them  with  thee. 
Oct.  So  I  hope; 

I  was  not  born  to  die  on  Brutus'  sword. 
Bru.  O,  if  thou  wert  the  noblest  of  thy  strain. 

Young  man,  thou  couldst  not  die  more  honourable. 
Cas.  A  peevish  schoolboy,  worthless  of  such  honour,    61 

Join'd  with  a  masker  and  a  reveller ! 
Ant.  Old  Cassius  still! 
Q^f^  Come,  Antony  ;  away  ! 

Defiance,  traitors,  hurl  we  in  your  teeth ; 

If  you  dare  fight  to-day,  come  to  the  field : 

If  not,  when  you  have  stomachs. 

[Exeunt  Octaz'ius,  Antony,  and  their  army. 
Cas.  Whv,  now,  blow  wind,  swell  billow,  and  swim  bark! 

The  storm  is  up,  and  all  is  on  the  haard. 
Bru.  Ho,  Lucilius !  hark,  a  word  with  you. 
j^j^^ll  [Standing  forth]  My  lord? 

[Brutus  and  Lucilius  converse  apart. 

Cas.  Messala!  '^^ 

Mes.   [Standing  forth]   What  says  my  general? 

^  Messala, 

Cas. 

This  is  my  birth-day  ;  as  this  very  day 

103 


Act  V.  Sc.  i.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Was  Cassius  born.     Give  me  thy  hand,  Messala : 

Be  thou  my  witness  that,  against  my  will, 

As  Pompey  was,  am  I  compell'd  to  set 

Upon  one  battle  all  our  liberties. 

You  know  that  I  held  Epicurus  strong-. 

And  his  opinion  :  now  I  change  my  mind, 

And  partly  credit  things  that  do  presage. 

Coming  from  Sardis,  on  our  foreign  ensign  80 

Two  mighty  eagles  fell,  and  there  they  perch'd. 

Gorging  and  feeding  from  our  soldiers'  hands ; 

Who  to  Philippi  here  consorted  us : 

This  morning  are  they  fled  away  and  gone ; 

And  in  their  steads  do  ravens,  crows  and  kites 

Fly  o'er  our  heads  and  downward  look  on  us. 

As  we  were  sickly  prey :   their  shadows  seem 

A  canopy  most  fatal,  under  which 

Our  army  lies,  ready  to  give  up  the  ghost. 

Mcs.  Believe  not  so. 

Cas.  I  but  believe  it  partly,  90 

For  I  am  fresh  of  spirit  and  resolved 
To  meet  all  perils  very  constantly. 

Bru.  Even  so,  Lucilius. 

Cas.  Now,  most  noble  Brutus, 

The  gods  to-day  stand  friendly,  that  we  may, 
Lovers  in  peace,  lead  on  our  days  to  age ! 
But,  since  the  affairs  of  men  rest  still  incertain, 
Let 's  reason  with  the  worst  that  may  befall. 
If  we  do  lose  this  battle,  then  is  this 
The  very  last  time  we  shall  speak  together : 
What  are  you  then  determined  to  do?  100 

Bru.  Even  by  the  rule  of  that  philosophy 
By  which  I  did  blame  Cato  for  the  death 
104 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

Which  he  did  give  himself :  I  know  not  how, 

But  I  do  find  it  cowardly  and  vile, 

For  fear  of  what  might  fall,  so  to  prevent 

The  time  of  life :  arming  myself  with  patience 

To  stay  the  providence  of  some  high  powers 

That  govern  us  below. 
Cas.  Then,  if  we  lose  this  battle, 

You  are  contented  to  be  led  in  triumph 

Thorough  the  streets  of  Rome?  no 

Bru.  No,  Cassius,  no :   think  not,  thou  noble  Roman, 

That  ever  Brutus  will  go  bound  to  Rome ; 

He  bears  too  great  a  mind.    But  this  same  day 

Must  end  that  work  the  ides  of  March  begun ; 

And  whether  we  shall  meet  again  I  know  not. 

Therefore  our  everlasting  farewell  take. 

For  ever,  and  for  ever,  farewell,  Cassius ! 

If  we  do  meet  again,  why,  we  shall  smile; 

If  not,  why  then  this  parting  was  well  made. 
Cas.  For  ever  and  for  ever  farewell,  Brutus!  120 

If  we  do  meet  again,  we  '11  smile  indeed ; 

If  not,  'tis  true  this  parting  was  well  made. 
Bru.  Why  then,  lead  on.    O,  that  a  man  might  know 

The  end  of  this  day's  business  ere  it  come ! 

But  it  sufficeth  that  the  day  will  end. 

And  then  the  end  is  known.     Come,  ho  !  away  ! 

[Exeunt. 

Scene  II. 

The  field  of  battle. 

Alarum.    Enter  Brutus  and  Messala. 

Bru.  Ride,  ride,  Messala,  ride,  and  give  these  bills 

Unto  the  legions  on  the  other  side :     [Loud  alarum, 
105 


Act  V.  Sc.  iii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Let  them  set  on  at  once ;   for  I  perceive 
But  cold  demeanour  in  Octavius'  wing, 
And  sudden  push  gives  them  the  overthrow. 
Ride,  ride,  Messala :   let  them  all  come  down. 

[Exeunt. 

Scene  III. 

Another  part  of  the  field. 
Alarums.     Enter  Cassius  and  Titiniiis. 

Cas.  O,  look,  Titinius,  look,  the  villains  fly ! 
Myself  have  to  mine  own  turn'd  enemy : 
This  ensign  here  of  mine  was  turning  back ; 
I  slew  the  coward,  and  did  take  it  from  him. 

Tit.  O  Cassius,  Brutus  gave  the  word  too  early ; 
Who,  having  some  advantage  on  Octavius, 
Took  it  too  eagerly  :  his  soldiers  fell  to  spoil, 
Whilst  we  by  Antony  are  all  enclosed. 

Enter  Pindariis. 

Pin.  Fly  further  off,  my  lord,  fly  further  off ; 

Mark  Antony  is  in  your  tents,  my  lord :  lo 

Fly,  therefore,  noble  Cassius,  fly  far  off. 

Cas.  This  hill  is  far  enough.     Look,  look,  Titinius  ; 
Are  those  my  tents  where  I  perceive  the  fire  ? 

Tit.  They  are,  my  lord. 

Cas.  Titinius,  if  thou  lovest  me, 

Mount  thou  my  horse  and  hide  thy  spurs  in  him. 
Till  he  have  brought  thee  up  to  yonder  troops 
And  here  again  ;  that  I  may  rest  assured 
Wliether  yond  troops  are  friend  or  enemy. 

Tit.  I  will  be  here  again,  even  with  a  thought.         [Exit. 

io6 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  V.  Sc.  iii. 

Cas.  Go,  Pindarus,  get  higher  on  that  hill ;  20 

My  sight  was  ever  thick  ;   regard  Titinius, 
And  tell  me  what  thou  notest  about  the  field. 

[Pindarus  ascends  the  hill 
This  day  I  breathed  first :   time  is  come  round, 
And  where  I  did  begin,  there  shall  I  end ; 
My  life  is  run  his  compass.     Sirrah,  what  news  ? 

Pin.    [Above]  O  my  lord ! 

Cas.  What  news? 

Pin.  ]  Above]   Titinius  is  enclosed  round  about 

With  horsemen,  that  make  to  him  on  the  spur  ; 
Yet  he  spurs  on.     Now  they  are  almost  on  him.     30 
Now,  Titinius !     Now  some  light.     O,  he  lights  too. 
He  's  ta'en.     [Shout]    And,  hark  !  they  shout  for  joy. 

Cas.  Come  down  ;   behold  no  more. 

O,  coward  that  I  am,  to  live  so  long, 

To  see  my  best  friend  ta'en  before  my  face ! 

Pindarus  descends. 

Come  hither,  sirrah : 

In  Parthia  did  I  take  thee  prisoner; 

And  then  I  swore  thee,  saving  of  thy  life, 

That  whatsoever  I  did  bid  thee  do. 

Thou  shouldst  attempt  it.     Come  now,   keep  thine 

oath ;  40 

Now  be  a  freeman ;   and  with  this  good  sword, 
That  ran  through  Caesar's  bowels,  search  this  bosom. 
Stand  not  to  answer :  here,  take  thou  the  hilts  ; 
And  when  my  face  is  cover'd,  as  'tis  now. 
Guide  thou  the  sword.  [Pindarus  stabs  him.]  Caesar, 

thou  art  revenged, 
Even  with  the  sword  that  kill'd  thee.  [Dies. 

107 


Act  V.  Sc.  iii.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Pin.  So,  I  am  free ;  yet  would  not  so  have  been, 
Durst  I  have  done  my  will.    O  Cassius ! 
Far  from  this  country  Pindarus  shall  run, 
Where  never  Roman  shall  take  note  of  him.       [Exit. 

Re-enter  Titinins  zvith  Messala. 

Mes.  It  is  but  change,  Titinius ;   for  Octavius  51 

Is  overthrown  by  noble  Brutus'  power, 
As  Cassius'  legions  are  by  Antony. 

Tit.  These  tidings  will  well  comfort  Cassius. 

Mes.  Where  did  you  leave  him  ? 

Tit.  All  disconsolate, 

With  Pindarus  his  bondman,  on  this  hill. 

Mes.  Is  not  that  he  that  lies  upon  the  ground? 

Tit.  He  lies  not  like  the  living.    O  my  heart ! 

Ales.  Is  not  that  he  ? 

Tit.  No,  this  was  he,  Messala, 

But  Cassius  is  no  more.    O  setting  sun,  60 

As  in  thy  red  rays  thou  dost  sink  to  night, 

So  in  his  red  blood  Cassius'  day  is  set. 

The  sun  of  Rome  is  set !    Our  day  is  gone ; 

Clouds,  dews  and  dangers  come  ;  our  deeds  are  done ! 

Mistrust  of  my  success  hath  done  this  deed. 

Mes.  Mistrust  of  good  success  hath  done  this  deed. 
O  hateful  error,  melancholy's  child. 
Why  dost  thou  show  to  the  apt  thoughts  of  men 
The  things  that  are  not  ?    O  error,  soon  conceived. 
Thou  never  comest  unto  a  happy  birth,  70 

But  kill'st  the  mother  that  engender'd  thee ! 

Tit.  What,  Pindarus!   where  art  thou,  Pindarus? 

Mes.  Seek  him,  Titinius,  whilst  I  go  to  meet 
The  noble  Brutus,  thrusting  this  report 

108 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  V.  Sc.  iii. 

Into  his  ears  :   I  may  say  '  thrusting  '  it, 
For  piercing  steel  and  darts  envenomed 
Shall  be  as  welcome  to  the  ears  of  Brutus 
As  tidings  of  this  sight. 
Tit.  Hie  you,  IMessala, 

And  I  will  seek  for  Pindarus  the  while. 

[Exit  Mcssala. 
Why  didst  thou  send  me  forth,  brave  Cassius?      80 
Did  I  not  meet  thy  friends  ?   and  did  not  they 
Put  on  my  brows  this  wreath  of  victory, 
And  bid  me  give  it  thee?     Didst  thou  not  hear  tb.eir 

shouts  ? 
Alas,  thou  hast  misconstrued  every  thing! 
But,  hold  thee,  take  this  garland  on  thy  brow ; 
Thy  Brutus  bid  me  give  it  thee,  and  I 
W^ill  do  his  bidding.     Brutus,  come  apace, 
And  see  how  I  regarded  Caius  Cassius. 
By  your  leave,  gods :  this  is  a  Roman's  part : 
Come,  Cassius'  sword,  and  find  Titinius'  heart.       90 

[Kills  hi}  11  self. 

Alarum.     Re-enter  Messala,  zvith  Brutus, 
Young  Cato,  and  others. 

Bru.  Where,  where,  Messala,  doth  his  body  lie? 

Mes.  Lo,  yonder,  and  Titinius  mourning  it. 

Bru.  Titinius'  face  is  upward. 

Cato.  He  is  slain. 

Bru.  O  Julius  C^sar,  thou  art  mighty  yet! 

Thy  spirit  walks  abroad,  and  turns  our  swords 

In  our  own  proper  entrails.  [Lozu  alarums. 

Cato.  Brave  Titinius ! 

Look,  whether  he  have  not  crown'd  dead  Cassius ! 
109 


Act  V,  Sc.  iv.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Bru.  Are  yet  two  Romans  living  such  as  these  ? 
The  last  of  all  the  Romans,  fare  thee  well ! 
It  is  impossible  that  ever  Rome  lOO 

Should  breed  thy  fellow.    Friends,  I  owe  moe  tears 
To  this  dead  man  than  you  shall  see  me  pay. 
I  shall  find  time,  Cassius,  I  shall  find  time  . 
Come  therefore,  and  to  Thasos  send  his  body : 
His  funerals  shall  not  be  in  our  camp. 
Lest  it  discomfort  us.    Lucilius,  come, 
And  come,  young  Cato :  let  us  to  the  field. 
Labeo  and  Flavins,  set  our  battles  on. 
'Tis  three  o'clock ;  and,  Romans,  yet  ere  night       109 
We  shall  try  fortune  in  a  second  fight.  [Exewtt. 

Scene  IV.. 

Another  part  of  the  Held. 

Alarum.     Enter,  -fighting,  Soldiers  of  both  armies;   then 
Brutus,  young  Cato,  Lucilius,  and  others. 

Bru.  Yet,  countrymen,  O,  yet  hold  up  your  heads ! 
Cato.  What  bastard  doth  not?    Who  will  go  with  me? 

I  wall  proclaim  my  name  about  the  field. 

I  am  the  son  of  Marcus  Cato,  ho ! 

A  foe  to  tyrants,  and  my  country's  friend ; 

I  am  the  son  of  Marcus  Cato,  ho! 
Bru.  And  I  am  Brutus,  Marcus  Brutus,  I ; 

Brutus,  my  country's  friend ;  know  me  for  Brutus ! 

[Exit. 
Lucil.  O  young  and  noble  Cato,  art  thou  down  ? 

Why,  now  thou  diest  as  bravely  as  Titinius,  10 

And  mayst  be  honour'd,  being  Cato's  son. 
First  Sold.  Yield,  or  thou  diest. 

no 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  V.  Sc.  v. 

Liicil.  Only  I  yield  to  die: 

[Offering  uiojicy]  There  is  so  much  that  thou  wilt  kill 

me  straight ; 
Kill  Brutus,  and  be  honourVl  in  his  death. 

First  Sold.  We  must  not.     A  noble  prisoner ! 

Sec.  Sold.  Room,  ho!    Tell  Antony,  Brutus  is  ta'en. 

First  Sold.  I  '11  tell  the  news.    Here  comes  the  general. 

Enter  Antony. 

Brutus  is  ta'en,  Brutus  is  ta'en,  my  lord. 

Ant.  Where  is  he  ? 

Lucil.  Safe,  Antony ;  Brutus  is  safe  enough :  20 

I  dare  assure  thee  that  no  enemy 
Shall  ever  take  alive  the  noble  Brutus : 
The  gods  defend  him  from  so  great  a  shame ! 
When  you  do  find  him,  or  alive  or  dead, 
He  will  be  found  like  Brutus,  like  himself. 

Ant.  This  is  not  Brutus,  friend,  but,  I  assure  you, 
A  prize  no  less  in  worth :  keep  this  man  safe. 
Give  him  all  kindness :   I  had  rather  have 
Such  men  my  friends  than  enemies.     Go  on. 
And  see  whether  Brutus  be  alive  or  dead,  30 

And  bring  us  word  unto  Octavius'  tent 
How  every  thing  is  chanced.  [Exeunt, 

Scene  V. 

Another  part  of  the  Held, 

Enter  Brutus,  Dardanins,  Clitus,  Strato,  and 
Volumniiis. 

Brii.  Come,  poor  remains  of  friends,  rest  on  this  rock. 
Cli.  Statilius  show'd  the  torch-light,  but,  my  lord, 
He  came  not  back :  he  is  or  ta'en  or  slain. 

Ill 


Act  V.  Sc.  V.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Brii.  Sit  thee  down,  Clitus  :  slaying  is  the  word ; 
It  is  a  deed  in  fashion.     Hark  thee,  CHtus. 

[Whispering. 

Cli.  What,  I,  my  lord?    No,  not  for  all  the  world. 

Bru.  Peace  then,  no  words. 

Cli.  I  '11  rather  kill  myself. 

Bni.  Hark  thee,  Dardanius.  [Whispering. 

Dar.  Shall  I  do  such  a  deed  ? 

Cli.  O  Dardanius ! 

Dar.  O  Clitus  !'  lo 

Cli.  What  ill  request  did  Brutus  make  to  thee? 

Dar.  To  kill  him,  Clitus.     Look,  he  meditates. 

Cli.  Now  is  that  noble  vessel  full  of  grief, 
That  it  runs  over  even  at  his  eyes. 

Bru.  Come  hither,  good  Volumnius  ;   list  a  word. 

Vol.  What  says  my  lord  ? 

Bru.  Wliy,  this,  \"olumnius  : 

The  ghost  of  C?esar  hath  appear'd  to  me 
Two  several  times  by  night ;  at  Sardis  once, 
And  this  last  night  here  in  Philippi  fields : 
I  know  my  hour  is  come. 

Vol.  Not  so,  my  lord.  20 

Bru.  Nay,  I  am  sure  it  is,  Volumnius. 

Thou  seest  the  world,  Volumnius,  how  it  goes ; 

Our  enemies  have  beat  us  to  the  pit :     [Loz^'  alarums. 

It  is  more  worthy  to  leap  in  ourselves 

Than  tarry  till  they  push  us.     Good  Volumnius, 

Thou  know'st  that  we  two  went  to  school  together : 

Even  for  that  our  love  of  old,  I  prithee. 

Hold  thou  my  sword-hilts,  whilst  I  run  on  it. 

VoL  That 's  not  an  office  for  a  friend,  my  lord. 

[Alarum  still. 

112 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Act  V.  Sc.  v. 

Cli.  Fly,  fly,  my  lord ;  there  is  no  tarrying  here.  30 

Brii.  Farewell  to  you  ;   and  you  ;  and  you,  Volumnius. 
Stratd,  thou  hast  been  all  this  while  asleep ; 
Farewell  to  thee  too,  Strato.     Countrymen, 
My  heart  doth  joy  that  yet  in  all  my  life 
I  found  no  man  but  he  was  true  to  me. 
I  shall  have  glory  by  this  losing  day. 
More  than  Octavius  and  Mark  Antony 
By  this  vile  conquest  shall  attain  unto. 
So,  fare  you  well  at  once ;  for  Brutus'  tongue 
Hath  almost  ended  his  life's  history :  40 

Night  hangs  upon  mine  eyes ;   my  bones  would  rest. 
That  have  but  labour'd  to  attain  this  hour. 

[Alarum.     Cry  within,  'Fly,  fly,  Hy!' 

Cli.  Fly,  my  lord,  fly. 

Bru.  Hence !  I  will  follow. 

[Exeunt  Clitus,  Dardaniiis,  and  Volumnius. 
I  prithee,  Strato,  stay  thou  by  thy  lord : 
Thou  art  a  fellow  of  a  good  respect ; 
Thy  life  hath  had  some  snatch  of  honour  in  it : 
Hold  then  my  sword,  and  turn  aw^ay  thy  face. 
While  I  do  run  upon  it.    Wilt  thou,  Strato  ? 

Stra.  Give  me  your  hand  first :  fare  you  well,  my  lord. 

Bru.  Farewell,  good  Strato.  [Runs  on  his  szi'ord.]  Csesar, 

now  be  still :  50 

I  kill'd  not  thee  with  half  so  good  a  w-ill.  [Dies. 

Alarum,     Retreat.     Enter  Octavius,  Antony,  Messala, 
Liicilius,  and  the  army. 

Oct.  What  man  is  that? 

Mes,  My  master's  man.     Strato,  where  is  thy  master? 
Stra.  Free  from  the  bondage  you  are  in,  ]\Iessala : 

113 


Act  V.  Sc.  V.  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

The  conquerors  can  but  make  a  fire  of  him ; 

For  Brutus  only  overcame  himself, 

And  no  man  else  hath  honour  by  his  death. 

Liicil.  So  Brutus  should  be  found.     I  thank  thee,  Brutus, 
That  thou  hast  proved  Lucilius'  saying  true. 

Oct.  All  that  served  Brutus,  I  will  entertain  them.        60 
Fellow,  wilt  thou  bestow  thy  time  with  me? 

Stra.  Ay,  if  Messala  will  prefer  me  to  you. 

Oct.  Do  so,  good  Messala. 

Ales.  How  died  my  master,  Strato? 

Stra.  I  held  the  sword,  and  he  did  run  on  it. 

Mcs.  Octavius,  then  take  him  to  follow  thee, 
That  did  the  latest  service  to  my  master. 

Ant.  This  was  the  noblest  Roman  of  them  all: 
All  the  conspirators,  save  only  he, 
Did  that  they  did  in  envy  of  great  Caesar;  70 

He  only,  in  a  general  honest  thought 
And  common  good  to  all,  made  one  of  them. 
His  life  was  gentle,  and  the  elements 
So  mix'd  in  him  that  Nature  might  stand  up 
And  say  to  all  the  world  *  This  was  a  man ! ' 

Oct.  According  to  his  virtue  let  us  use  him. 
With  all  respect  and  rites  of  burial. 
Within  my  tent  his  bones  to-night  shall  lie, 
Most  Hke  a  soldier,  order'd  honourably. 
So  call  the  field  to  rest,  and  let 's  away,  80 

To  part  the  glories  of  this  happy  day.  [Exeunt. 


114 


JULIUS  CAESAR 


Glossary. 


Abide,  answer  for,  suffer  for; 

III.  i.  94;  III.  ii.  119. 
Ahjects,  things  cast  away;  IV. 

i.  2>7- 
About,  go  about;  I.  i.  72>. 

!  set  to  work;  III.  ii.  208. 

Abroad,  about  in;  III  ii.  256. 
Across,  crossed,   folded;    II.   i. 

240. 
Address' d,  ready;  III.  i.  29. 
Advantage,    profit    us;    III.    i. 

242. 
After,  afterwards ;  I.  ii.  76. 
Against,  over  against,  near;   I. 

iii.  20. 
All  over,  one  after  the  other; 

II.  i.  112. 

Alone,  only;   IV.  iii.  94. 

An,  if;  I.  ii.  267. 

Anchises,  the  father  of  ^neas; 

when    Troy    was    sacked    he 

bore    him    on    his    shoulders 

from  the  burning  town;  I.  ii. 

114. 
Angel,   darling,    favourite,    ( ?) 

guardian  angel;  III.  ii.  185. 
Annoy,    injure,    harm;     II.     i. 

160. 
Ansiver,  be  ready  for  combat; 

V.  i.  24. 
Answer' d,  paid  for,  atoned  for ; 

III.  ii.  85. 

Ansiver ed,  faced;  IV.  i.  47, 
Apace,  quickly ;  V.  iii.  87. 
Apparent,  manifest;  II,  i.  198. 


Appoint,  settle  upon;  IV.  i.  30. 

Apprehensive,  endowed  with 
intelligence ;  III.  i.  67. 

Apt,  suitable,  likely;   II.  ii.  97. 

,  ready,  fit ;  III.  i.  160. 

,  impressionable ;  V.  iii.  68, 

Arrive,  reach;  I.  ii.  no. 

Astonish,  stun  with  terror ;  I, 
iii.  56. 

Ate,  the  goddess  of  Mischief 
and  Revenge ;  III.  i.  271. 

At  hand,  in  hand;  IV.  ii.  23. 

Aught,  anything;  I.  ii.  85. 

Augurers,  professional  inter- 
preters of  omens  (originally, 
diviners  by  the  flight  and 
cries  of  birds)  ;  II.  i.  200. 

Bait,    hunt,    chase     (Theobald, 

("bay");  IV.  iii.  28. 
Bang,  blow ;  III.  iii.  18. 
Barren-spirited,  dull ;  IV.  i.  36. 
Base,  low ;  II.  i.  26. 
Bastardy,  act  of  baseness;  II, 

i.  138. 
Battles,  forces ;  V.  i.  4. 
Bay,  bark  at;  IV.  iii.  27. 
Bay'd,   driven  to  bay    (a  term 

of  the  chase)  ;  III.  i.  204. 
Bear    a    hand    over,    hold    in 

check  (as  a  rider)  ;  I.  ii.  35. 
Bear  hard,  bear  ill-will   against ; 

I.  ii.  316;  II.  i.  215. 
Bear  me,  bear  from  me,  receive 

from  me;  III.  iii.  18. 


115 


Glossary 


THE  TRAGEDY  OF 


Bears  (betrayed)  with  glasses; 
alluding  to  the  stories  that 
bears  were  surprised  by- 
means  of  mirrors,  which 
they  would  gaze  into,  afford- 
ing their  pursuers  an  oppor- 
tunity of  taking  a  surer  aim ; 
II.  i.  205.    See  Notes. 

Beat,  beaten ;  V.  v.  23. 

Behaviours,  conduct ;   I.   ii.   41. 

Beholding,  beholden;  III.  ii.  70. 

Belike,  perhaps;  III.  ii.  275. 

Bend,  look;  I.  ii.  123. 

Bending,  directing,  pressing 
on ;  IV.  iii.  170. 

Best;  "  you  were  b.,"  it  were 
best  for  you;  III.  iii.  13. 

Bestow,  spend;  V.  v.  61. 

Betimes,  in  good  time,  early; 
II.  i.  116. 

Bills,  billets,  written  docu- 
ments; V.  ii.  I. 

Bird  of  night,  i.e.  the  owl ; 
I.  iii.  26. 

Blood;  "  Pompey's  b."  (prob- 
ably) offspring;  Gnaeus, 
Pompey's  son,  had  been 
killed  at  Munda,  and  Caesar's 
triumph  was  in  honour  of 
the  victory ;  I.  i.  55. 

Bloods;  "young  b.,"  young 
people ;  IV.  iii.  262. 

Bondman,  used  with  a  play 
upon  "  bond,"  i.e.  document 
("to  cancel  a  bond")  ;  I.  iii. 

lOI. 

Bones,    body,     corpse;     V.     v. 

78. 
Bootless,  without   avail,   to  no 

purpose ;  III.  i.  75. 
Bosoms;  "  in  their  b.,"  in  their 

confidence ;  V.  i.  7. 


Break  zvith,  broach  the  subject 
to;  II.  i.  150. 

Bring,  take;  III.  ii.  276. 

Brother,  i.e.  brother-in-law 
(Cassius  having  married  a 
sister  of  Brutus)  ;  II.  i.  70. 

Brought,  accompanied;  I.  iii. 
I. 

Brutus;  "  old  B.,"  i.e.  Lucius 
Junius  Brutus,  who  expelled 
the  Tarquins;  I.  iii.  146  {cp. 
I.  ii.  159)- 

;    "  Decius    B.,"    i.e.    Deci- 

mus  B.  (the  error  being  due 
to  a  misprint  in  Amyot's 
French  translation  of  Plu- 
tarch, copied  by  North,  and 
hence  in  Shakespeare)  ; 
Decimus  B.  was  placed  next 
after  Octavius  in  Caesar's 
will ;  he  had  served  under 
Caesar  in  Gaul,  and  was 
made  governor  of  Cisalpine 
Gaul ;  I.  iii.  148. 

Budge,  give  way;  IV.  iii.  44. 

Bustling  rumour,  noise  of  tu- 
mult; II.  iv.  18. 

By,  near,  close  to ;  III.  i.  162. 

Calculate,  speculate  upon  fu- 
ture events ;  I.  iii.  65. 

Calpurnia,  Caesar's  fourth  wife 
(Folio  I,  "  Calphurnia")  ; 
I.  ii.  I. 

Carrions,  worthless  beings  (a 
term  of  contempt)  ;  II.  i. 
130. 

Casca,  I.  ii.  passim  {cp.  the  ac- 
companying coin  jssued  by 
Brutus,  the  reverse  of  which 
commemorates  his  fellow- 
conspirator). 


116 


JULIUS  CAESAR 


Glossary 


Cast ;  "  c.  yourself  in  wonder," 
i.e.  throw  yourself  into  won- 
der ;     (?)     "  dress    hastily  "  ; 
(Jervis     conj.     ''Case,"     i.e. 
"encase,    clothe    yourself'"); 
I.  iii.  60. 
Cautelous,  crafty ;  II.  i.  129. 
Censure,  judge;   III.  ii.   16. 
Ceremonies,    festal    ornaments; 
I.  i.  69. 

,  religious  observances ;  II. 

i.  197. 

,  omens;  II.  ii.  13. 

Chafing  with,  fretting  against; 

I.  ii.  loi. 
Chance,  happen;  II.  iv.  31. 
Chanced,  happened;  I.  ii.  216. 
Change,  exchange;  V.  iii.  51. 

;  "in  his  own  c,"  by  some 

change  of  disposition  to- 
wards me  (Warburton, 
"  charge  ")  ;  IV.  ii.  7. 

,  change  countenance;  III. 

i.  24. 
Charactery,  writing;  II.  i.  308. 
Charge,    burden,    weigh    upon ; 

III.  iii.  2. 
Charges,  troops ;  IV.  ii.  48. 
Charm,  conjure;  II.  i.  271. 
Check' d,  reproved ;  IV.  iii.  97- 
Chew  upon,  ponder;  I.  ii.   171 
Choler,  anger;  IV.  iii.  39- 
Chopped,       chapped       (Folios 
"  c  h  0  p  t  "  ;     Knight 
"chapped")  ;  I.  ii.  245. 


Chose,  chosen  ;  II.  i.  314. 

Clean,  entirely;   I.  iii.  35- 

Climate,  region;  I.  iii.  32. 

Close,  hidden;  I.  iii.  131. 

,  come  to  terms ;  III.  i.  202. 

Closet,  room;  III.  ii.  134. 

Cobbler,  botcher  (used  quib- 
blingly)  ;  I.  i.  n. 

Cognizance,  badges  of  hon- 
ours; II.  ii.  89. 

Colossus,  a  gigantic  statue  said 
to  have  stood  astride  at  the 
entrance  of  the  harbour  at 
Rhodes;  I.  ii.  136. 

Colour,  pretext;  II.  i.  29. 

Come  by,  get  possession;  II.  i. 

259- 

Companion,  fellow  (used  con- 
temptuously) ;  IV.  iii.   138. 

Compare,  let  us  compare,  we 
will  compare ;  III.  ii.  9. 

Compass,  circle,  course ;  V.  iii. 

Complexion,  appearance ;  I.  iii. 

128. 
Conceit,  think  of;  III.  i.  192. 
Conceited,  conceived ;  I.  iii.  162. 
Conceptions,  ideas;  I.  ii.  41. 
Concluded,   decided;    II.   ii.  93- 
Condition,     disposition;     II.     i. 

254- 

Contines,  boundaries;  III.  i. 
272. 

Connd  by  rote,  learned  by 
heart ;  IV.  iii.  98. 

Consorted,  escorted ;  accom- 
panied;   V.  i.  83. 

Constancy,  firmness;   II.   iv.   6. 

Constant,  firm;  III.  i.  22. 

Constantly,  firmly;  V.  i.  92. 

Construe,  explain ;  II.  i.  307. 

Content,  easy;  I.  iii.  142. 


117 


Glossary 


THE  TRAGEDY  OF 


Content,  calm;  IV.  ii.  41. 

,  glad;  V.  i.  8. 

Contrive,  conspire,  plot ;  II.  iii. 
16. 

Contriver,  schemer,  plotter;  IL 
i.  158. 

Controversy;  "  hearts  of  c," 
spirits  eager  for  resistance ; 
I.  ii.  109. 

Corse,  corpse ;  III.  i.  199. 

Couchings,  stoopings ;  III.  i. 
36. 

Counters,  round  pieces  of 
metal  used  in  calculations ; 
IV.  iii.  80. 

Course ;  "  run  his  c,"  alluding 
to  the  course  of  the  Luperci 
round  the  city  wall ;  "  that 
day  there  are  diverse  noble 
men's  sons,  young  men,  and 
some  of  them  magistrates 
themselves,  that  govern 
them,  which  run  naked 
through  the  city,  striking  in 
sport  them  they  meet  in  their 
way  with  leathern  thongs " 
(made  of  the  skins  of  goats 
which  had  been  sacrificed)  — 
North's  Plutarch;  I.  ii.  4. 

Courtesies,  bowings,  bendings 
of  the  knee ;  III.  i.  36. 

Cross  lightning,  forked  light- 
ning; I.  iii.  50. 

Cull  out,  pick  out ;  I.  i.  53. 

Cynic,  rude  man ;  IV.  iii,  133. 

Damn,  condemn ;  IV.  i.  6. 
Dearer,  more  bitterly,  more  in- 
tensely; III.  i.  196. 
Degrees,  steps ;  II.  i.  26. 
Deliver,  relate  to;  III.  i.  181. 
Di)it,  impression ;  III.  ii.  198. 


Directly,  plainly;  I.  i,  12;  III. 
iii.  10. 

,  straight ;  I.  ii.  3 ;  IV.  i.  2>^. 

Discomfort,  discourage;  V,  iii. 
106. 

Discover,  show ;  I.  ii.  69. 

Dishonour,  insult ;  IV.  iii.  109. 

Disrobe,  strip  of  their  decora- 
tions ;  I.  i.  68. 

Distract,     distracted;     IV.     iii. 

155- 

Doublet,  the  inner  garment  of 
a  man ;  I.  ii.  267. 

Doubted,  suspected ;  IV.  ii.  13. 

Drachma,  a  Greek  coin,  strictly 
about  half  of  the  Roman 
denarius,  but  Plutarch's 
"  drachmas  "  were  probably 
equivalent  to  denarii,  and 
were  about  9>2d.  in  value ; 
III.  ii.  247. 

Drazvn,  assembled ;  I.  iii.  22. 

Element,  sky;  I.  iii.  128. 

Elephants  betrayed  with  holes; 
"  elephants  were  seduced  into 
pitfalls,  lightly  covered  with 
hurdles  and  turf,  on  which  a 
proper  bait  to  tempt  them 
were  exposed " ;  II.  i.  205. 

Emulation,  jealousy,  envy;  II. 
iii.  14. 

Enforced,  exaggerated;   III.  ii. 

43. 

,  struck  hard;  IV.  iii.   112. 

Enfranchisement,  liberty,  free- 
dom; III.  i.  57. 

Enlarge,  give  vent   to ;    IV.   ii. 

Enrolled,  recorded;   III.  ii.  41. 
Ensign,     standard ;     V.     i.     80. 
{Cp.  illustration.) 


118 


JULIUS  CAESAR 


Glossary 


From  a  coin  of  Augustus  representing 
the  ensigns  of  the  20th  Legion,  the 
central  eagle  being  the  Imperial 
standard. 


Ensign,  standard-bearer  (and 
by  implication,  standard ; 
hence  ''  it,"  line  4)  ;  V.  iii.  3. 

Entertain,  take  into  service ;  V. 
V.  60. 

Envious,  spiteful,  malicious ; 
II.  i.  178;  III.  ii.  179. 

Envy,  hatred,  malice ;  II.  i.  164. 

Epicurus ;  "  I  held  E.  strong," 
i.e.  I  followed  the  Epicurean 
school,  which  held  that  the 
gods  scarcely  troubled  them- 
selves with  human  affairs ; 
hence  the  Epicureans  re- 
garded the  belief  in  omens  as 
mere  superstition ;  V.  iii.  yy. 

Erebus,  the  region  of  utter 
darkness ;  between  Earth  and 
Hades;   II.  i.  84. 

Eternal,  infernal,  damned  (used 
to  express  extreme  abhor- 
rence) ;    I.   ii.    160. 

Even;  "  e.  field,"  i.e.  level 
ground ;  V.  i.  17. 

,  pure,  unblemished ;   II.  i. 

133- 

Ever,  always  ;  V.  iii.  21. 

Evils,  evil  things;  II.  i.  79. 


Exhalations,  meteors ;  II.  i.  44. 

Exigent,  exigency,  crisis ;  V.  i. 
19. 

Exorcist,  one  who  raises 
spirits ;  II.  i.  2)2t,- 

Expedition,  march;  IV.  iii.  170. 

Extenuated,  undervalued,  de- 
tracted from;  III.  ii.  42. 

Extremities,  extremes;  II.  i.  31. 

Face,  boldness ;  V.  i.  10. 

;    "  f.    of    men,"     sense    of 

danger     depicted     on     men's 

faces;  II.  i.  114. 
Faction,  body  of  conspirators ; 

II.  i.  77. 
Factious,  active;  I.  iii.  118. 
Fain,  gladly ;   I.  ii.  239. 
Fall,  happen ;   III.  i.  243 ;  V.  i. 

105. 

.  let  fall ;  IV.  ii.  26. 

Falling  sickness,  epilepsy ;  I.  ii. 

255. 
Falls,  turns  out,  is;  III.  i.  146. 
Famed  with,  made  famous  by ; 

I.  ii.  153; 
Familiar    instances,    marks    of 

familiarity ;   IV.  ii.   16. 
Fantasies,    imaginings;     II.     i. 

23 1; 

Fashion,  shape,  form;  II.  i.  30. 

,  way,  manner  (trisylla- 
bic) ;  IV.  iii.  135. 

;   "begin  his   f.,"  begin  to 

be  fashionable  with  him ;  IV. 

i-  39- 
,  work  upon,  shape ;   II.  i. 

220. 
Favour,  appearance ;  I.  ii.  91. 

,  countenance ;  II.  i  76. 

Favour 's,  appearance  is ;  I,  iii, 

129, 


119 


Glossary 


THE  TRAGEDY  OF 


Fear,  cause  of  fear ;  II.  i.  190. 

Fearful  bravery,  terrible  dis- 
play, gallant  show  of  cour- 
age; V.  i.  10. 

Fell,  fierce ;  III.  i.  269, 

Fellow,  equal ;  III.  i.  62. 

Ferpet,  red  as  the  eyes  of  a 
ferret ;  I.  ii.  186. 

Field,  army ;  V.  v.  80. 

Figures,  "idle  fancies" 
(Craik)  ;  II.  i.  231. 

First  decree,  what  has  been  de- 
creed at  first  (Craik  conj. 
"  iix'd  d." ',  S.  Walker  conj. 
"iirmd")  ;   III.  i.  38. 

Fleering,  grinning;  I.  iii.  117. 

Flood,  ocean ;  I.  ii.  103. 

Flourish' d,  triumphed ;  III.  ii. 
196. 

Fond,  foolish ;  III.  i.  39. 

For,  as  for;  II.  i.  181. 

Force ;  "  of  f.,"  of  necessity ; 
IV.  iii.  203. 

Form,  manner  of  behaving;  I. 
ii.  302. 

Formal  constancy,  proper  com- 
posure ;  II.  i.  227. 

Former,  foremost ;  V.  i.  80. 

Forth,  to  go  out ;  I.  ii.  292. 

Forth  of,  out  of ;  III.  iii.  3. 

Freedom  of  repeal,  free  recall ; 
III.  i.  54- 

Fresh,  freshly;   II.  i.  224. 

Fret,  variegate  (as  with  a  kind 
of  fretwork  pattern)  ;  II.  i. 
104. 

,  be  vexed ;  IV.  iii.  42. 

Frighted,  afraid;  IV.  iii.  40. 

From,  contrary  to ;  I.  iii.  35. 

,  away  from  ;  I.  iii.  64 ;  III. 

ii.  169;  IV.  ii.  49. 

' ,  differently  to;   II.  i.   196. 


Funeral,  funeral  ceremoaies ; 
III.  i.  230. 

Gait,  manner  of  walking;  I.  iii. 
132. 

Gamesome,  fond  of  games ;  I. 
ii.  28. 

General,  general  public ;  II.  i. 
12. 

General;  "  in  a  g.  honest 
thought,"  in  the  general  hon- 
esty of  his  motives;  V.  v.  71. 

General  coffers,  public  treas- 
ury; III.  ii.  94. 

General  good,  public  good,  wel- 
fare of  the  people ;   I.  ii.  85. 

Genius,  the  rational  spirit  tem- 
porarily lodged  within  the 
body,  directing  for  good  or 
bad  the  bodily  faculties ;  II. 
i.  66. 

Give  guess,  guess ;  II.  i.  3. 

Give  place,  make  way ;  III.  i. 
10. 

,  give  way;  IV.  iii.  146. 

Gives  zvay,  leaves  open  the 
way ;  II.  iii.  8.^ 

Glanced,  hinted ;  I.  ii.  323. 

Glased,  glared  (Folios, 
"glaa'd  "  ;  changed  by  editors 
to  "  glared  "  or  "  gaaed,"  but 
the  word  was  perhaps  coined 
by  Shakespeare  to  express  a 
glased  or  glassy  stare)  ;  I.  iii. 
21. 

Goes  up,  is  sheathed ;  V.  i.  52. 

Good  cheer,  be  of  good  cheer ; 
III.  i.  89. 

Gorging,  feeding,   glutting;   V. 

i.  82. 
Go    to,    exclamation    of    impa- 
tience ;  IV.  iii.  32, 


120 


JULIUS  CAESAR 


Glossary 


Grace,  honour,  respect;  III.  ii 

62. 
Gracious,  holy ;  III.  ii.   198. 
Greek;  "it  was  Greek  to  me,' 

it   was   unintelligible  to   me 

I.  ii.  286. 

Griefs,  grievances;    I.   iii.    118: 

III.  ii.  217. 

Growing    on,    encroaching    on 

II.  i.  107. 

Hand;  "  my  h.,"  there  is  my 
hand  upon  it ;  I.  iii.  117. 

Handiwork,  work ;  I.  i.  30. 

Hands,  handwritings;  I,  ii.  319. 

Have  aim,  make  a  guess  at ;  I. 
ii.  163. 

Have    mind,    regard,    look   to ; 

IV.  iii.  36. 

Havoc ;     "  cry     *  Havoc,'  "     in 

olden  times  the   cry  that  no 

quarter  was  to  be  given ;  III. 

i.  273. 
Head;    "  make    h.,"    raise    an 

armed  troop ;  IV.  i.  42. 
Health,  safety ;  IV.  iii.  36. 
Heavy,  depressed;  II.  i.  275. 
Hedge  in,  put  under  restraint ; 

IV.  iii.  30. 
Hence,  go  hence;  II.  i.  117. 
Hie,  hasten;  I.  iii.   150. 
High-sighted,      soaring      high, 

(?)  supercilious;  II.  i.  118. 
Hilts,     applied     to     a     single 

weapon ;  V.  iii.  43. 
Him,  himself;   I.  iii.   156. 
;  "  by  h.,"  i.e.  by  his  house; 

II.  i.  218. 
His,  its;  I.  ii.   124;  II.  i.  251; 

IV.  iii.  8. 
Hold,  consider,   look   upon ;    I. 

ii.  78. 


Hold,  keep,  detain;  I.  ii.  83;  II. 
i.  201. 

Holds  on  his  rank,  stands  firm, 
continues  to  hold  his  place ; 
III.  i.  69. 

Honey-heavy;  "  h.  dew,"  heavy 
with  honey  (with  perhaps  a 
reference  to  the  belief  that 
dew  was  honey-laden ;  hence 
the  honey-flowers)  ;   II.  i.  230. 

Honourable,  honourably;  V.  i. 
60. 

Hooted,  shouted  with  wonder 
(Johnson's  emendation ;  Fo- 
lios I,  2,  3,  "  howted";  Folio 
4,  "houtcd";  H  a  n  m  e  r, 
"shouted")  ;  I.  ii.  244. 

Hooting,  crying;   I.  iii.  28. 

Horse,  cavalry ;   IV.  ii.  29. 

However,  although ;  I.  ii.  302. 

Humour,  distemper,  caprice ; 
II.  i.  250. 

,    distempered     humour, 

passing  caprice ;  IV.  iii.   109, 

Humours,  damp  airs;  II.  i.  262. 

Hurtled,  clashed;  II.  ii.  22. 

Hybla,  a  town  in  Sicily  famous 
for  its  honey;  V.  i.  34. 

Ides  of  March,  i.e.  fifteenth  of 
March;  I.  ii.  18.  (C/>.  the 
coin  of  Brutus,  reverse  Eid. 
Mar.). 


Idle  bed,  bed  of  idleness;  II.  i. 
117. 


121 


Glossary 


THE  TRAGEDY  OF 


Illuminate,  illumine;  I.  iii.  no. 
Images,  statues  of  Caesar ;  I.  i. 

69. 
In,  on ;   IV,  i.  27. 

,  into  ;  V.  iii.  96. 

Incertain,  uncertain;  V.  i.  96. 
Incorporate,   closely  united;    I. 

iii.  135. 
Indifferently,  impartially;   I.  ii. 

Indirection,  dishonest  practice ; 
IV.  iii.  75. 

Insuppressive,  not  to  be  sup- 
pressed ;  II.  i.  134. 

Intermit,  delay;  I.  i.  59. 

Jade,  a  term  of  contempt  for  a 
worthless  horse ;  IV.  ii.  26. 

Jealous  on,  suspicious  about;  I. 
ii.  71. 

Jigging,  rhyming;   IV.  iii.  137. 

Joy,  rejoice;  V.  v.  34. 

Kerchief,  a  covering  for  the 
head   (a  sign  of  illness)  ;  II. 

i-  315- 
Kind,  nature ;  I.  iii.  64. 

,  species;  II.  i.  33. 

Knave,  boy ;  IV.  iii.  241 

Labour  d ;    "  but    1.,"    laboured 

but ;  V.  V.  42. 
Labouring;    "a   1.    day,"    i.e.    a 

working  day ;  I.  i.  4. 
Laugher,  jester     (Folios, 

"  Laughter  "      ?  =  object     of 

laughter)  ;  I.  ii.  72. 
Lay  off,  take  away  from ;  I.  ii. 

242. 
Left,  left  off;  IV.  iii.  274. 
Legions,     bodies     of    infantry ; 

IV.  iii.  7^. 


Lend  me  your  hand,  help  me; 
III.  i.  297. 

Let  blood,  used  equivocally 
with  a  play  upon  the  surgical 
operation  of  "  blood-letting  "  ; 
III.  i.  152. 

Lethe,  death ;  perhaps  a  tech- 
nical term  for  the  deer's  life- 
blood  (Folio  I,  "Lethee"; 
cp.  lethal,  L.  lethalis  or  le- 
talis,  from  letum,  death)  ; 
III.  i.  2g6. 

Liable,  subject;  II.  ii.  104. 

Lief;  "  had  as  1.,"  would  as 
willingly,  gladly  (with  a  play 
upon  "  live  ")  ;  I.  ii.  95. 

Lies,  halts;   III.  i.  286. 

Light,  alight;   V.  iii.  31. 

LigJit  on,  come  down  on  ;   Li. 59. 

Like ;  "  every  1.  is  not  the 
same,"  i.e.  to  be  like  a  thing 
is  not  to  be  that  same  thing; 
II.  ii.  127. 

Like,  same;  IV.  ii.  50. 

,  likely;   I.  ii.  175. 

Listen,  listen  to;  IV.  i.  41. 

Live,  if  I  live;  III.  i.  159. 

Look,  be  sure,  see ;  I.  iii.  143. 

Look  for,  expect ;  IV.  iii.  262. 

Lover,  friend;  II.  iii.  10. 

Low-crooked,  lowly  bendings 
of  the  knee;  III.  i.  43. 

Lupercal;  "  the  feast  of  L.,"  i.e. 
the  Lupercalia ;  a  feast  of 
purification  and  fertilization 
held  every  year  on  15th  Feb- 
ruary {v.  course)  ;  I.  i.  71. 

Lusty,  strong;  II.  ii.  78. 

Main,  confident,  firm ;  II.  i.  196. 
Make    forth,    go   on,    forward; 
V.  i.  25. 


122 


JULIUS  CAESAR 


Glossary 


Makes     to,     presses     towards ; 

III.  i.   i8. 
Make  to,  advance ;  V.  iii.  29. 
Mark,    notice,    observe ;     I.    ii. 

120. 
Marr'd,  disfigured ;  III.  ii.  201. 
Mart,  traffic;  IV.  iii.  11. 
May  hut,  only  may ;  I.  iii.  144. 
Me;  "plucked  me  ope"  (Ethic 

dative)  ;  I.  ii.  266. 
Mean,  means ;  III.  i.  161. 
Mechanical,     belonging    to    the 

working-classes,    mechanics ; 

I.  i-  3. 
Metal,  mettle,   temper    (Folios, 

"  mettle  ")  ;  I.  i.  65. 
Mettle;    "quick    m.,"    full     of 

spirit ;  I.  ii.  300. 
Mind,  presentiment ;  III.  i.  144. 
Misgiving,   presentiment,    fore- 
boding of  ill;  III.  i.  145. 
Mistook,  mistaken;   I.  ii.  48. 
Mock,  taunt;  II.  ii.  96. 
Modesty,    moderation ;     III.    i. 

213. 
Moe,  more ;  II.  i.  72. 
Monstrous,    unnatural ;     I.    iii. 

68,  71. 
Mortal       instruments,       bodily 

powers ;  II.  i.  66. 
Mortified,  deadened;  II.  i.  324. 
Motion,  impulse;  II.  i.  64. 

Napkins,     handkerchiefs ;     III. 

ii.  138. 
N eats-leather,  ox-hide ;  I.  i.  29. 
Nervii,    a    fierce    Belgic    tribe 

conquered   by    Caesar   at   the 

great   battle   of   Sambre,   b.c. 

57;  III.  ii.  177. 
New-added,     re-inforced ;     IV. 

iii.  209. 


Nice,  trivial;  IV.  iii.  8. 
Niggard,  stint,  supply  sparing- 
ly;  IV.  iii.  228. 
Night-gown,       dressing-gown ; 

II.  ii.    (direc). 

Noted,  stigmatized;  IV.  iii.  2. 
No  whit,  not  at  all;  II.  i.  148. 

Observe,  take  notice;  IV.  iii. 
45. 

Occupation;  "a  man  of  o.,"  a 
mechanic;  probably  used 
with  play  upon  secondary 
meaning,  "  a  man  of  busi- 
ness " ;  I.  ii.  268. 

O'ershot  myself,  gone  too  far, 
said   more  than   I   intended; 

III.  ii.   155. 
O'er-zvatch'd,  weary,  worn  out 

with  watching;  IV.  iii.  241. 

Of,  in;  II.  i.  157. 

Oifal,  worthless  rubbish;  I.  iii. 
109. 

Offence;  "  sick  o.,"  malady 
which  makes  you  sick;  II.  i. 
268. 

Offence,  harm,  injury;  IV.  iii. 
201. 

Officers;  "by  ill  o.,"  the  ill  con- 
duct of  his  officers  (Johnson 
conj.  "offices")  ;  IV.  ii.  7. 

Omitted,  neglected ;  IV.  iii.  220. 

Once,  some  time;  IV.  iii.  191. 

Ope,  open ;  I.  ii.  266. 

Opinion,  reputation;  II.  i.   145. 

Orchards,  gardens;  III.  ii.  253. 

Order,  course;  III.  i.  230. 

Oris,  remnants,  fragments ;  IV. 
i.  37- 

Other,  the  other;  I.  ii.  229. 

Out ;  "  be  not  o.,"  do  not  be  at 
odds,  do  not  quarrel ;  I.  i.  17. 


123 


Glossary 


THE  TRAGEDY  OF 


Out;  "be  o, 
i.  i8. 


out  at  heels ;  I. 


Palm,  the  prize  of  victory ;   I. 

ii.  131. 

Palter,  shuffle,  equivocate;  II. 
i.   126. 

Pardon;  "by  your  p.,"  by  your 
leave;  III.  i.  235. 

Part,  divide;  V.  v.  81. 

Pass,  pass  through ;  I.  i.  47. 

,  pass  on ;  I.  ii.  24. 

Passion,  feelings ;  I.  ii.  48. 

,  grief;   III.  i.  283. 

Passions  of  some  difference, 
conflicting  emotions ;  I.  ii.  40. 

Path,  walk  abroad;  II.  i.  83. 

Peevish,  wayward  (used  con- 
temptuously) ;  V.  i.  61. 

Phantasma,  vision;  II.  i.  65. 

Philippi,  in  the  east  of  Mace- 
donia, on  the  borders  of 
Thrace;   V.   i.  83. 

Physical,  healthy;   II.  i.  261. 

Pitch,  a  technical  term  used  of 
the  highest  point  to  which  a 
hawk  or  falcon  soars  ;  I.  i.  yy. 

Pitiful,  full  of  pity,  merciful ; 
III.  i.  169. 

Pleasures,  pleasaunces,  pleas- 
ure grounds ;  III.  ii.  255. 

Pluck'd,  pulled  down;  II.  i.  y2>- 

Plutus',  of  the  god  of  riches 
(Folios,  "Pluto's")  ■  IV.  iii. 
102. 

Pompey's  porch  (Porticus 
Pompeii),  the  portico  of 
Pompey's  Theatre,  in  the 
Campus  Martins;  it  was  also 
called  Hecatostylon,  or  "  Hall 
of  the  hundred  columns " ; 
I.  iii.  126. 


Pompey's    theatre ;    I.    iii.    152. 
{Cp.    illustration.) 


From  Fairholt's  engraving  of  Be  llor  is 
copy  of  the  ground-plan,  preserved  in 
the  Museum  of  the  Capitol. 


Portentous,  ominous;  I.  iii.  31. 

Posture,       position,       direction 
(Singer    conj.    "puncture" 
Bulloch     conj.     "portents" 
Schmidt      conj.      "nature" 
Herr  conj.  "powers")  ;  V.  i. 

Powers,  armed  forces,  troops ; 

IV.  i.  42;  IV.  iii.  307. 
Prefer,  present ;  III.  i.  28. 

,  recommend ;  V.  v.  62. 

Preformed,  originally  intended; 

I.  iii.  67. 
Pre-ordinance,   what    has   been 

previously    ordained;    III.    i. 

38. 


124 


JULIUS  CAESAR 


Glossary 


Presage,    foreshow     future 

events ;  V.  i.  79. 
Present,    present    time ;    I.    iii. 

,  immediate ;  II.  ii.  5. 

Presently,   immediately;   III.  i. 

28. 
Press,  crowd,  throng;  I.  ii.  15. 
Prevail' d  upon,  influenced ;   II. 

i.  254. 
Prevent,  anticipate;    II.   i.   28; 

V.  i.  105. 
Prevention,  detection;  II.  i.  85. 

,  hindrance ;  III.  i.  19. 

Prick,  incite ;   II.  i.   124. 
Prick'd,  marked  down,  marked 

on  the  list;  III.  i.  216;  IV. 

i.  I. 
Proceeded,   taken   place ;    I.    ii. 

181. 

,  acted;  III.  i.  183. 

Proceeding,  course  of  conduct ; 

II.  ii.  103. 
Prodigious,   portentous ;    I.    iii. 

77- 
Produce,    bring    out ;     III.     i. 

228. 
Profess   myself,    make    profes- 
sions of  affection  ;  I.  ii.  yy. 
Proof ;  "  common  p.,"  common 

experience;    II.   i.  21. 
Proper,  handsome  ;  I.  i.  28. 

,  own ;  V.  iii.  96. 

Proper  to,  belonging  to ;   I.  ii. 

41. 
Property,  tool ;  IV.  i.  40. 
Pt'o tester,  one  who  protests  or 

professes   love  or   friendship 

to  another ;  I.  ii.  74. 
Public     chair,     the     pulpit     or 

rostra  ;  III.  ii.  68. 
Puissant,  powerful ;   III.   i.  23- 


Pulpits,  rostra,  platforms;  III. 

i.  80. 
Purgers,  healers ;  I.  i.  180. 
Purpose;  "  to  the  p.,"  to  hit  the 

purpose ;    III.   i.    146. 
Put  on,  betray;  II.  i.  225. 
Puts  on,  assumes;   I.  ii.  302. 

Quality,  natural  disposition;  I. 

iii.  64. 
Question,  subject;  III.  ii.  41. 
Question;  "call  in  q.,"  discuss, 

consider;  IV.  iii.  165. 
Quick,  lively;  I.  ii.  29. 

Rahhlement,  rabble;   I.   ii.  244. 
Raise,  rouse ;  IV.  iii.  247. 
Range,     roam     (derived    from 

falconry,  used  of  hawks  and 

falcons  in  search  of  game)  ; 

II.  i.   118. 
Ranging,  roaming;  II.  i.  270. 
Rank,  too  full  of  blood;  III.  i. 

152. 
Rascal,  worthless ;   IV.  iii.  80. 
Rears,  raises  ;  III.  i.  30. 
Regard,    consideration ;    III.    i. 

224. 

,  notice  ;   V,  iii.  21. 

Regarded,  respected ;  V.  iii.  88. 
Remorse,  pity ;  II.  i.  19. 
Render'd,  given  in  reply ;  II.  ii. 

97. 
Repealing,  recalling;  III.  i.  51. 
Replication,  echo ;  I.  i.  50. 
Resolved,  satisfied;  III.  i.   131. 
Respect;  "  of  the  best  r.,"  held 

in  the  greatest  respect;  I.  ii. 

59. 

,  take  notice  of;  IV.  iii.  69. 

;   "  in  r.  of,"  i.e.  in  com- 
parison with ;  I.  i.  10. 


125 


Glossary 


THE  TRAGEDY  OF 


Rest,  remain ;  V.  i.  96. 

Resting,  not  subject  to  motion; 
III.  i.  61. 

Retentive,  restraining ;  I.  iii.  95. 

Rheumy,  moist ;  II.  i.  266. 

Right  on,  straight  on ;  III.  ii. 
227. 

Rived,  split,  torn ;  I.  iii.  6 ;  IV. 
iii.  84. 

Rome,  used  quibblingly  with  a 
play  upon  "  room  "  ;  the  pro- 
nunciation of  the  words  was 
almost  identical;  I.  ii.  156. 

Round,  rung;  step;  II.  i.  24. 

Rout,  disorderly  company, 
mob;  I.  ii.  78. 

Rude,  brutal ;  III.  ii.  2)Z- 

Sad,  serious;  I.  ii.  217. 
Satisfied,      given      satisfaction, 

convinced;  III.  i.  141. 
Save  only,  except ;  V.  v.  69. 
Saving,  in  saving;  V.  iii.  38. 
Scandal,  defame,   speak  ill  of ; 

I.  ii.  76. 
'Scaped,  escaped;  IV.  iii.  150. 
Schedule,     paper     written     on 

(Folios     I,    2,    '' scedule")  ; 

III.  i.  3. 
Scope,  full  play;  IV.  iii.  108. 
Search,  pierce ;  V.  iii.  42. 
Security,    over-confidence ;     II. 

iii.  8. 
Sennet,  a   set  of  notes  on  the 

cornet,  or  trumpet ;  I.  ii.  24- 

25- 
Served,  attended  to;  III.  i.  8. 
Set  on,  proceed;  I.  ii.  11. 

,  set  forward;  IV.  iii.  307. 

Several,  different;  I.  ii.  319. 

,  special ;  II.  i.  138. 

.  separate;  III.  ii.  247. 


Shadow,    reflected     image ;     I. 

ii.  58. 
Shallows,    sandbanks ;    IV.    iii. 

221. 
Show,  demonstration ;  I.  ii.  34. 
Shrczvd,     mischievous;     II.     i. 

158. 
Shrewdly,  close   enough    (used 

with  an  intensive  force)  ;  III. 

i.  146. 
Sign'd,  stamped,  stained ;  III.  i. 

200. 
Sirrah,  a  form  of  address  to  in- 
feriors; IV.  iii.  300. 
Slaughter;    "  have    added    s.," 

have   added   another   victim ; 

V.  i.  55. 

Slight,  worthless;  IV.  i.  12. 
Slighted  oif,  treated  with  con- 
tempt ;  IV.  iii.  5. 
Slip;  "let  s.,"  unleash;   III.  i. 

273. 

Smatch,  smack,  taste ;  V.  v.  46. 

So,  if  only ;  I.  ii.  166. 

Sober,  calm;  IV.  ii.  40. 

Softly,  slowly ;  V.  i.  16. 

Soil,  blemish ;   I.  ii.  42. 

Sometime,  sometimes;  II.  i. 
251. 

Sooth,  in  sooth,  in  truth ;  II. 
iv.  20. 

So  please  him,  if  it  please  him 
to;  III.  i.  140. 

Sort,  rank;  I.  i.  61. 

,  way;  I.  ii.  205. 

;  "in  s.,"  in  a  manner,  af- 
ter a  fashion ;  II.  i.  283. 

Spare,  lean;  I.  ii.  201. 

Speak  to  me,  tell  me;  IV.  iii. 
281. 

Speed,  prosper ;  I.  ii.  88. 

Spleen,  passion;  IV,  iii.  47. 

126 


JULIUS  CAESAR 


Glossary 


spoil;  "  sign'd  in  thy  spoil," 
i.e.  having  the  stains  of  thy 
blood  as  their  badges; 
"  spoil  "  was  perhaps  used  in 
technical  sense  for  the  cap- 
ture of  the  prey,  and  the  di- 
vision among  those  who  have 
taken  part  in  the  chase;  III. 
i.  206. 

Stale,  make  common ;  I.  ii.  y^- 

Staled,  made  stale  or  common ; 
IV.  i.  38. 

Stand  upon,  trouble  about ;  III. 
i.  100. 

Stare,  stand  on  end ;  IV.  iii. 
280. 

Stars,  fortunes,  fates,  alluding 
to  the  old  belief  in  the  in- 
Huence  of  the  stars  'under 
which  men  were  born ;  I.  ii. 
140. 

State,  court ;  I.  ii.  160. 

,  state  of  things ;  I.  iii,  71. 

-,  kingdom,  microcosm ;   II. 

i.67. 

Statue  (.trisyllabic);  II.  ii.  76; 
"at  the  base  of  Pompey's 
statue";  III.  ii.  192. 

Stay,  wait ;  I.  iii.  125. 

,  await ;  V.  i.  107. 

Stays,  detains,  keeps ;  II.  ii.  75. 

Sterile  curse,  the  curse  of  be- 
ing barren;  I.  ii.  9. 

Still,  always ;  I.  ii.  245. 

Stit:,  stirring ;  I.  iii.  127. 

Stirr'd,  stirring:   II.  ii.   no. 

Stole,  stolen;    II.   i.  238. 

Stomachs,  inclination ;  V.  i.  66. 

Stood  on,  regarded,  attached 
any    importance    to ;    II.    ii. 

13. 
Strain,  race;  V.  i.  59. 


Strange-disposed,  strangely 
disposed;  I.  iii.  33. 

Strength  of  malice  (v.  Note)  ; 
III.  i.  174. 

Stricken,  struck;  II.  i.  192. 

Strucken,  struck  (Folio  i, 
"stroken " ;  Folios  2,  3,  4, 
"stricken")  ;  III.  i.  209. 

Suburbs,  outskirts  (with  prob- 
ably an  allusion  to  the  fact 
that  the  suburbs  in  London 
and  other  cities  were  the  gen- 
eral resort  of  disorderly  per- 
sons) ;  II.  i.  285. 

Success,  good  fortune ;  II.  ii.  6. 

,  issue ;  V.  iii.  66. 

Sudden,  quick ;  III.  i.   19. 

Sufferance,  patience  ;   I.  iii.  84. 

,  suffering;  II.  i.   115. 

Surest,  most  safely ;   IV.  i.  47. 

Surly,  sullenly;  I.  iii.  21. 


Pompey's  Statue. 
From  a  drawing  by  Fairholt. 


127 


Glossary 


THE  TRAGEDY  OF 


Sway ;  "  the  s.  of  earth,"  equi- 
librium (?  "the  government 
and  established  order  of  the 
earth,"  Schmidt)  ;  I.  iii.  3. 

Swear,  let  swear ;  11.  i.  129. 

Swore,  caused  to  take  an  oath ; 
V.  iii.  38. 

Szvotind,  swoon ;  I.  ii.  252. 

Swounded,  swooned  (Folios, 
"  swoonded")  ;  I.  ii.  249. 

Tag-rag  people,  the  common 
people,  rabble;  I.  ii.  259. 

Take  thought,  give  way  to 
melancholy;  II.  i.  187. 

Tardy,  slow,  laggard ;  I.  ii.  302. 

Taste,  sort,  way ;  IV.  i.  34- 

Temper,  constitution;  I.  ii.  129. 

Tenoiir,  contents;  IV.  iii.   i/i. 

Tent;  IV.  iii.  246.  (The  an- 
nexed examples  of  Roman 
tents  of  the  time  of  Julius 
Caesar  are  from  ancient  bas- 
reliefs  at  Rome.) 


Thasos,  an  Island  in  the 
vEgean,  off  the  coast  of 
Thrace  (Folios,  "  Thar- 
sus'')  ;  V.  iii.  104. 

That,  suppose  that  done;  II.  i. 

Then,  in  that  case;  V.  i.  100. 


These     and     these,     such     and 

such;  II.  i.  31. 
Thews,  muscles,  strength;  I.  iii. 

81. 
Thick,    dim,    short-sighted ;    V. 

iii.  21. 
This;    "by    this,"    i.e.    by    this 

time,  now ;  I.  iii.  125. 
Threat,  threaten;  V.  i.  38. 
Thunder-stone,  thunderbolt;  I. 

iii.  46. 
Tiber  banks,  the  banks  of  the 

Tiber ;  I.  i.  62. 
Tide  of  times,  course  of  times ; 

III.  i.  257. 
Time  of  life,  full  period  of  life ; 

V.  i.  106. 
Time's    abuse,    abuses    of    the 

time;  II.  i.  115. 
Tinctures,      memorial       blood- 
stains ;  II.  ii.  89. 
'Tis  just,  just  so,  exactly;  I.  ii. 

.54. 
To   friend,   for   our    friend,    as 

our  friend;  III.  i.  143. 
Toils,  snares,  nets ;  II.  i.  206. 
To-night,    last    night;     II.     ii. 

76.^ 
Took,  taken ;  II.  i.  50. 
Trash,  rubbish,  worthless  stuff: 

I.  iii.  108. 
Trophies,  tokens  of  victory ;  I. 

i-  73- 
True,  honest ;  I.  ii.  262. 
Turn  him  going,  send  him  off; 

III.  iii.  38. 

Unbraced,  unbuttoned;  I.  iii. 
48 ;  II.  i.  262. 

Undergo,  undertake;  I.  iii.  123. 

Underlings,  serfs,  mean  fel- 
lows; I.  ii.  141. 


128 


JULIUS  CAESAR 


Glossary 


Unfirm,  not  fixed,  not  firm ;  I. 
iii.  4. 

Ungently,  unkindly  ;   II.  i.  237. 

Unicorns ;  "  u.  may  be  betrayed 
with  trees  " ;  alluding  to  the 
belief  that  unicorns  were 
captured  by  the  huntsman 
standing  against  a  tree,  and 
stepping  aside  when  the  ani- 
mal charged ;  its  horn  spent 
its  force  on  the  trunk  and 
stuck  fast ;  11.  i.  204. 

Unluckily,  foreshowing  mis- 
fortune ominously;  III.  iii. 
2. 

k'nmeritablc,  undeserving ;  IV. 
i.  12. 

Uhpiirged ;  "  u.  air,"  i.e.  un- 
purged  by  the  sun ;  II.  i. 
266. 

Unshaked  of;  "  u.  o.  motion," 
i.e.  undisturbed  by  any  mo- 
tion ;  III.  i.  70. 

Untrod;  "  this  u.  state."  i.e.  this 
new  state  of  affairs ;  III.  i. 
136. 

Upmost,  uppermost,  topmost; 
II.  i.  24. 

Upon;  "  u.  a  heap,"  in  ct  heap, 
crowded  all  together;  I.  iii. 
23. 

,   in   intruding  upon  ;   II,   i. 

86. 

,    conditionally    upon ;    III. 

i.  221. 

;  "  u.  a  wish,"  as  soon  as 

wished  for;  III.  ii.  271. 

,  in  consequence  of,  from  ; 

IV.  iii.   152. 

Use,  custom  ;  II.  ii.  25, 

' ;  "did  u.,"  were  accus- 
tomed; I.  ii.  72. 


Vaunting,  boasting;  IV.  iii. 
52. 

Ventures,  what  we  have  ven- 
tured, risked ;  IV.  iii.  224. 

J'esture,  garment;   III.  ii.  200. 

l^oice,  vote ;  III.  i.  177. 

Void,  open ;  II.  iv.  36. 

Vouchsafe,  vouchsafe  to  ac- 
cept; II.  i.  313. 

I'lilgar,  common  herd,  com- 
mon people ;  I.  i.  74. 

IVafture,  waving ;   II.  i.  246. 

Warn,  summon;  V.  i.  5. 

Waspish,  petulant;   IV.  iii.  50. 

Weep,  shed;  I.  i.  62. 

Weighing,  taking  into  consid- 
eration; II.  i.  108. 

Well,  in  a  friendly  way ;  IV. 
ii.  6. 

Well  given,  well  disposed;  I. 
ii.   197. 

What;  "  what  night,"  i.e.  what 
a   night ;    I.   iii.   42. 

!,  an  exclamation  of  impa- 
tience ;   II.  i.   I. 

lUhen,  an  exclamation  of  im- 
patience ;  II.  i.  5. 

Where,  when  ;  I.  ii.  59. 

Whet,  instigate;  II.  i.  61. 

Whether  (monosyllabic;  Fo- 
lios, "where")  ;  I.  i.  65. 

Who,  the  man  who;  I.  iii.  120. 

,  which;  V.  i.  83. 

Whole,     well,     healthy;     II.     i. 

327- 
Wind,  turn,  wheel ;  IV.  i.  2>2- 
Wit.  intelligence    (so   Folio  2; 

Folio  I,  "writ")  ;  III.  ii.  225. 
With,  by;  I.  iii.  83;  III.  i.  42; 

III.  ii.  201. 


12^ 


Glossary 


THE  TRAGEDY  OF 


JVifh     a     thought,     quick     as 
thought;  V.  iii.  19- 


From  a  brass  coin  of  Augustus,  struck 
for  use  in  Csesarea  Augusti,  a  city  of 
Phcenicia. 


Wives,  women  ;  III.  i.  97. 
JVoe  the  zvhilc!  alas  the  time! ; 

1.  iii.  82. 
Jf\ird ;  "  at  a  w.,"  at  his  word ; 

I.  ii.  269. 

World,  condition  of  affairs;  I. 

ii.  310. 
Worthless,  unworthy ;  V.  i.  61. 
Wreath   of  victory;   V.   iii.  82. 

{Cp.  illustration.) 

Yearns,  grieves  (Folios  i,  2,  3, 
"  earnes" ;  Folio  4,  "earns"); 

II.  ii.  128. 

Yet,  still;  II.  i.  245. 


1.30 


JULIUS  CAESAR 


Critical  Notes. 

BY  ISRAEL  GOLLANCZ. 

I.  i.  25.  '  with  awl.  I ' ;  Folios,  '  ivithal  I ' ',  the  correction  was 
made  by  Farmer. 

I.  ii.  19.  The  Hne  is  evidently  to  be  read  thus: — 

"A  sootJisay'r  bids  you  'ware  the  ides  of  March." 

I.  ii.  79,  80.  '  /  do  fear  the  people  choose  Cccsar  for  their  king.' 
(Cp.  the   annexed  copy  of  a 
silver    denarius    struck    when 
Caesar    assumed    the    title    of 
Perpetual  Dictator.) 

1.  ii.  155.  '  walls  ' ;  Rowe's 
emendation  of  Folios, 
'  zvalkes.' 

I.  ii.  255.  ''Tis  very  like: 
he  hath  ';  Theobald's  emendation;  Folios,  ''Tis  very  like  he  hath.' 

I.  ii.  318.  'He  should  not  humour  me';  i.e.  'he  (Brutus) 
should  not  influence  me,  as  I  have  been  influencing  him';  othe.s 
take  '  he '  to  refer  to  Caesar,  and  Johnson  explains  the  passage 
as  follows : — "  Caesar  loves  Brutus,  but  if  Brutus  and  I  were  to 
change  places,  his  (Caesar's  love)  should  not  humour  me,  so  as 
to  make  me  forget  my  principles." 

I.  iii.  30.  'These  are  their  reasons';  Jervis  conj.  'These  have 
their  seasons' ;  Collier  MS.,  '  These  are  the  seasons.' 

L  iii.  65.  'Why  old  men  fool  and';  Mitford  conj.;  Folios, 
'Why  old  men,  Fools,  and';  Blackstone  conj.  'Why  old  men 
fools,  and.' 

I.  iii.  129.  '  In  favour  s  like ' ;  Johnson  reads  '  In  favour's, 
like';  Folios  i.  2,  'Is  Fauors,  like';  Folios  3.  4,  'Is  Favours, 
like ' ;  Rowe,  '  Is  feav'rous,  like  ' ;  Capell,  '  Is  favow'd  like  ' ; 
etc..  etc. 

II.  i.  40.  '  the  ides  of  March  ' ;  Theobald's  correction  of  Folios, 
'  the  -first  of  March.' 

II.  i.  83.  'For  if  thou  path,  thy  native  semblance  on';  so 
Folio  2;  Folios  i,  3,  4,  'For  if  thou  path  thy    .     .    .' ;  Pope,  'For 

131 


Notes 


THE  TRAGEDY  OF 


if  thou  march,  thy  .  .  .' ;  Singer  conj.  'For  if  thou  pu.t'st  thy 
.  .  .,'  etc.;  but  there  is  no  need  to  improve  on  the  re^din^  of 
Folio  2. 

II.  i,  204,  5.  '  unicGnis  may  he  bctray'd  zi'iih  frees  and  b'^as 
ii-ith  glasses  .  .  .  '"  The  passage  receives  a  curious  ilhistration 
from  a  painting  in  the  sepulchre  of  the  Nasoriian  family  on  the 

Flaminian  way  near  Rome.  It  r-pre^rnts  a 
leopard  entrapped  by  its  reflection  in  a  mirror 
placed  in  a  box  upon  which  the  hunter  ('lidden 
by  his  shield)   stands  with  his  spear." 

II.  ii.  19.  'fight';  so  Folios;  Dyce,  'fought'; 
Keightley,  'did  tight.' 

II.  ii.  46.  'are';  U:^ton  conj.;  Folios  i,  2, 
'  h^eare  ' ;  Folios  3,  4,  '  liear' ; 
Rowe,  '  heard  ' ;  Theobald, 
'  zi'cre.' 

III.  i.  39.  '  laiv    of    children'; 
Johnson's  emendation  of  Folios, 
'lane     of     children';      Steevens 
conj.   'line   of   r.' ;    Mason   conj. 
'play  of  c!     Mr.  Pleay  approves 
of  the  Folio  reading,  and  explains  'lane'  in  the  sense  of  'nar- 
row  conceits ' ;   he  compares   the   following  lines   from  Jonson's 
Staple  of  News : — 

"A  narrow-minded  man!  my  tJwughts  do  dzvell 
All  in  a  lane." 

III.  i.  47,  48.  'Know,  Ccpsar,  doth  not  zcrong,  nor  zcitJiout 
cause  Will  he  be  satisHcd ' ;  there  is  an  interesting  piece  of  lit- 
erary history  connected  with  these  lines.  In  Ben  Jonson'S 
Sylva  or  Discoveries  occurs  the  famous  criticism  on  Shakespeare. 
Vv'here  Jonson,  after  speaking  of  his  love  for  Shalicspcare  on  this 
side  of  idolatry,  expresses  a  wish  "  that  he  had  blotted  more." 
"  His  wit  was  in  his  own  power ;  would  the  rule  of  it  had  been 
so  too !  Many  times  he  fell  into  those  things  could  not  escape 
laughter:  as  when  he  said  in  the  person  of  Caesar,  one  speaking 
to  him  '  Caesar,  thou  dost  me  wrong,'  he  replied,  '  Ccesar  did  never 
zvrong  but  zvith  just  cause,'  and  such  like;  which  were  ridiculous. 
But  he  redeemed  his  vices  with  his  virtues.  There  was  ever 
more  in  him  to  be  praised  than  to  be  pardoned."  Again  in  his 
Staple  of  Nezcs  (acted  1625),  a  character  savs,  "Cry  you  mercy, 
you  never  did  wrong,  but  with  just  cause."     From  these  refer- 

132 


JULIUS  CAESAR 


Notes 


ences  it  is  inferred  that  in  its  original  form  the  passage  stood 
thus : — 

"  Metellus.     Ccrsar,  thou  dost  me  zvrong. 
C^SAR.     Knozv,  Ccrsar  doth  not  zvrong,  but  zvith  just  cause, 
Nor  zi'ithout  cause  zvill  he  be  satisfied." 

It  is  impossible  to  determine  whether  Jonson  misquoted,  or 
whether  (as  seems  more  likely)  his  criticism  effected  its  purpose, 
and  the  lines  were  changed  by  Shakespeare,  or  by  his  editors. 

III.  i.  jy.  'Et  tu,  Brute  ' ;  according  to  Plutarch,  Caesar  called 
out  in  Latin  to  Casca,  '  O  vile  traitor,  Casca,  what  doest  thouf ' 
Suetonius,  however,  states  that  Caesar  addressed  Brutus  in 
Greek: — "/cat  av  t^kvov^^  i.e.  'and  thou,  too,  my  son,'  The 
words  '  Et  tu.  Brute,'  proverbial  in  Elizabethan  times,  must  have 
been  derived  from  the  Greek;  they  are  found  in  at  least  three 
works  published  earlier  than  Julius  Ccrsar: — (i)  Eedes'  Latin 
play,  Ccssaris  interfecti,  1582;  (ii)  The  True  Tragedie  of  Rich- 
ard, Duke  of  York,  1595;  (iii)  Acolastus,  his  Afterzjuitte,  1600. 
In  Caesar's  Legend,  Mirror  for  Magistrates,  1587,  these  lines 
occur : — 

"  O  this,  quoth  I,  is  violence:  then  Cassius  pierced  my  breast; 
And  Brutus  thou,  my  son,  quoth  I,  zi'hom  erst  I  loved  best." 
III.  i.  105-110.  These  lines  are  given  to  Casca  by  Pope. 
III.  i.  174.  'in  strength  of  malice';  so  Folios;  Pope,  'exempt 
from  malice  ' ;    Capell,   '  no  strength   of  malice  ' ;    Seymour,  '  re- 
proof of  malice ' ;    Collier   MS.,  adopted  by   Craik,  '  in  strength 
of  zi'elcome';  Badham  conj.  'unstring  their  malice,'  etc.     If  any 
emendation    is    necessary,    Capell's    suggestion    commends    itself 
most ;  but  '  in  strength  of  malice '  may  mean  '  in  the  intensity  of 

their    hatred    to    Caesar's    tyranny,' 

and  this,  as  Grant  White  points  out, 

suits  the  context. 

III.    i.    262.  'limbs    of   men';    so 

Folios;     Hanmer,    'kind    of   men'; 

Johnson  conj.  '  lives  of '  or  '  lymmes 

of  men';  Jackson,  'imps  of  men'; 

Collier     MS.,     adopted     by     Craik, 

'loins  of  men';  Bulloch,  'limbs  of 

Rome,'  etc. 

III.  ii.  254.  'On  tJiis  side  Tiber'; 

Theobald  proposed  '  that '  for  '  this.' 
Caesar's  gardens  were  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river.    Shakespeare 

133 


Notes  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

followed  North's  Plutarch,  and  North  merely  translated  the  words 
in  Amyot. 

III.  ii.  259.  '  We  'II  burn  his  body  in  the  holy  place.'  Cp.  the 
illustration  on  page  133.  from  a  brass  coin  struck  in  honour  of  M. 
Aurelius  after  his  death  in  180  a.d.,  exhibiting  on  the  reverse  the 
funeral  pile  of  four  stories  high  used  at  his  consecration. 

IV.  i.  2)7'  '  abjects,  oris ' ;  Staunton's  reading ;  Theobald,  '  ab- 
ject oris';  Folios,  '  Obiects,  Arts';  Becket  conj.  'abject  arts'; 
Gould  conj.  'objects,  orts.' 

IV.  i.  44.  '  our  means  stretch'd ' ;  Folio  i,  '  our  meanes 
stretcht' ;  Folios  2,  3,  4,  '  and  our  best  meanes  stretcht  out' ;  John- 
son, '  otir  best  means  stretcht';  Malone,  'our  means  stretch'd 
to  the  utmost.' 

IV.  ii.  50,  52.  Craik's  suggestion  that  '  Lucilius '  and  '  Lucius ' 
have  been  transposed  in  these  lines  has  been  accepted  by  many 
editors.  The  Cambridge  editors  are  of  opinion  that  the  error  is 
due  to  the  author  and  not  to  a  transcriber,  and  have,  therefore, 
not  tampered  with  the  text. 

IV.  iii.  129.  Cp.  "  This  Phaonius  .  .  .  came  into  the  cham- 
ber, and  with  a  certain  scoffing  and  mocking  gesture,  which  he 
counterfeited  of  purpose,  he  rehearsed  the  verses  which  old 
Nestor  said  in  Homer  "  : — 

"  My  lords  I  pray  you  hearken  both  to  me, 

For  I  have  seen  more  years  than  siichie  three." 

(North's  Plutarch). 

IV.  iii.  133.  '  vilely  ' ;  so  Folio  4 ;  Folios  i,  2,  '  vildely  ' ;  Folio 
3, '  vildly: 

V.  i.  20.  '  /  will  do  so,'  i.e.  '  I  will  do  as  you  wish,  and  keep 
on  the  left  ' ;  according  to  some  editors,  the  words  may  mean  '  I 
will  not  wrangle,  but  will  have  my  way.' 

V.  i.  53.  'three  and  thirty';  Theobald,  'three  and  twenty' 
(the  number  given  in  Plutarch). 

V.  iii.  99.  'The  last';  Rowe  unnecessarily  suggested,  'Thou 
last';  but  cp.  North's  Plutarch,  "he  (Brutus)  lamented  the 
death  of  Cassius,  calling  him  the  last  of  all  the  Romans." 

V.  V.  33.  'Farewell  to  thee  too,  Strato.  Countrymen  ' ;  Theo- 
bald's emendation  of  Folios,  'Farewell  to  thee,  to  Strato,  Country- 
men.' 

V.  V.  71.  'in  a  general  honest  thought  And';  Collier  MS., 
adopted  by  Craik,  reads  'in  a  generous  honest  thought  Of.' 

134 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Notes 


Explanatory  Noles. 

The  Explanatory  Notes  in  this  edition  have  been  specially  selected  and 
adapted,  with  emendations  after  the  latest  and  best  authorities,  from  the 
most  eminent  Shakespearian  scholars  and  commentators,  including  Johnson, 
Malone,  Steevens,  Singer,  Dyce,  Hudson,  White,  Furness,  Dowden,  and 
others.  This  method,  here  introduced  for  the  first  time,  provides  the  best 
annotation  of  Shakespeare  ever  embraced  in  a  single  edition. 

ACT  FIRST. 
Scene  I. 

35.  his  triumph  : — Caesar's  fifth  and  last  triumph.  He  had  re- 
turned a  few  months  before  from  Spain,  having  there  defeated 
Pompey's  sons  at  the  battle  of  Munda,  which  was  fought  March 
17,  B.C.  45. 

36  et  seq.  "  It  is  evident  from  the  opening  scene,"  says  Camp- 
bell, "that  Shakespeare,  even  in  dealing  with  classical  subjects, 
laughed  at  the  classic  fear  of  putting  the  ludicrous  and  sublime 
into  juxtaposition.  After  the  low  and  farcical  jests  of  the  saucy 
cobbler,  the  eloquence  of  Marullus  '  springs  upwards  like  a  pyra- 
mid of  fire.'  " 

49.  The  Tiber  being  always  personified  as  a  god,  the  feminine 
gender  is  here,  strictly  speaking,  improper.  Milton  says :  "  The 
river  of  bliss  rolls  o'er  Elysian  flowers  her  amber  streams."  But 
he  is  speaking  of  the  water,  and  not  of  its  presiding  power  or 
genius.  Malone  observes  that  Drayton  describes  the  presiding 
powers  of  the  rivers  of  England  as  females  ;  Spenser  more  clas- 
sically represents  them  as  males.  Old  English  usage  is  not  uni- 
form. 

73.  C(Tsar's  trophies: — A  passage  in  the  next  Scene  (lines  287- 
289)  shows  what  these  trophies  were.  Casca  there  informs  Cassius 
that  Marullus  and  Flavins,  for  pulling  scarfs  off  Ccesar's  images, 
are  put  to  silence. 

Scene  II. 

6-9.  Forget  not,  etc.: — This  passage  is  founded  on  the  follow- 
ing from  North's  Plutarch :  "  At  that  time  the  feast  Lupercalia 

135 


Notes  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

was  celebrated,  the  which  in  old  time,  men  say,  was  the  feast  of 
shepheards  or  heardsmen.  But,  howsoever  it  is,  that  day  there  are 
divers  noblemen's  sons  which  run  naked  through  the  city,  striking 
in  sport  them  they  meet  in  their  way  with  leather  thongs.  And 
many  noblewomen  and  gentlewomen  also  go  of  purpose  to  stand 
in  their  way,  and  put  forth  their  hands  to  be  stricken ;  perswa- 
ding  themselves  that,  being  with  child,  they  shall  have  good  de- 
livery ;  and  so,  being  barren,  that  it  will  make  them  to  conceive. 
Caesar  sate  to  behold  that  sport  upon  the  pulpit  for  orations,  in 
a  chaire  of  gold,  apparelled  in  triumphant  manner.  Antonius, 
who  was  Consull  at  that  time,  was  one  of  them  that  ranne  this 
holy  course." 

19.  Coleridge  remarks :  "  If  my  ear  does  not  deceive  me,  the 
metre  of  this  line  was  meant  to  express  that  sort  of  mild  philo- 
sophic contempt,  characterising  Brutus  even  in  his  first  casual 
speech."  Plutarch  supplied  the  basis  of  the  passage,  thus : 
"  There  was  a  certaine  Soothsayer  that  had  given  Caesar  warning 
long  time  afore,  to  take  heed  of  the  Ides  of  March,  which  is  the 
fifteenth  of  the  month,  for  on  that  day  he  should  be  in  great  dan- 
ger. That  day  being  come,  Caesar,  going  unto  the  Senate-house, 
and  speaking  merily  unto  the  Soothsayer,  told  him  the  Ides  of 
March  be  come.  So  they  be,  softly  answered  the  Soothsayer,  but 
yet  are  they  not  past." 

66.  Therefore,  good  Brutus,  etc. : — Here  Craik  remarks  that 
"the  eager,  impatient  temper  of  Cassius,  absorbed  in  his  own 
idea,  is  vividly  expressed  by  his  thus  continuing  his  argument  as 
if  without  appearing  to  have  even  heard  Brutus's  interrupting 
question ;  for  such  is  the  only  interpretation  which  his  therefore 
would  seem  to  admit  of." 

86,  87.  Set  honour,  etc. : — Coleridge  makes  this  following  com- 
ment :  "  Warburton  would  read  death  for  both  ;  but  I  prefer  the 
old  text.  There  are  here  three  things,  the  public  good,  the  in- 
dividual Brutus's  honour,  and  his  death.  The  latter  two  so 
balanced  each  other  that  he  could  decide  for  the  first  by  equi- 
poise ;  nay — the  thought  growing — that  honour  had  more  weight 
than  death." 

122.  His  coward  lips,  etc.: — This  is  oddly  expressed;  but  a 
quibble,  alluding  to  a  cowardly  soldier  flying  from  his  colours, 
was  intended. 

147.  Brutus  zmll  start  a  spirit : — Here  spirit  is  doubtless  meant 
to  be  pronounced  as  a  monosyllable,  and  perhaps  should  be  so 
printed. 

136 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Notes 

163.  some  aim  : — So  in  the  Tzn'o  Gentlemen  of  Verona,  III.  i. 
28:  "But,  fearing  lest  my  jealous  aim  might  err."  So  too  in 
various  other  places. 

174.  As,  according  to  Tooke,  is  an  article,  and  means  the  same 
as  that,  which,  or  it:  accordingly  we  find  it  often  so  employed  by 
old  writers ;  and  particularly  in  our  version  of  the  Bible.  Thus 
Lord  Bacon  also  in  his  Apothegms :  "  One  of  the  Romans  said 
to  his  friend ;  what  think  you  of  such  a  one,  as  was  taken  with  the 
manner  in  adultery?" 

195.  He  thinks  too  much  : — So  in  North's  Plutarch,  "  Life  of 
Julius  Caesar":  "Caesar  had  Cassius  in  jelousie,  and  suspected 
him  much :  whereupon  he  said  on  a  time  to  his  friends,  '  What  wil 
Cassius  do,  think  ye?  I  like  not  his  pale  looks.'  Another  time, 
when  Caesars  friends  complained  unto  him  of  Antonius  and 
Dolabella,  that  they  pretended  some  mischief  towards  him,  he 
answered  them,  '  As  for  those  fat  men,  and  smooth-combed 
heads,  I  never  reckon  of  them ;  but  these  pale-visaged  and  carion- 
leane  people,  I  feare  them  most ' ;  meaning  Brutus  and  Cassius." 

228-230.  Plutarch's  best  account  of  this  incident  is  given  in  the 
Life  of  Antonius:  "The  Romaines  celebrated  the  feast  called 
Lupercalia,  and  Caesar,  being  apparalled  in  his  triumphing  robe, 
was  set  in  the  tribune  where  they  use  to  make  orations  to  the 
people,  and  from  thence  did  behold  the  sport  of  the  runners. 
Antonius,  being  one  among  the  rest  that  was  to  run,  leaving  the 
old  customes  of  that  solemnity,  ran  to  the  tribune  where  Caesar 
was  set,  and  caried  a  laurell  crowne  in  his  hand,  having  a  royall 
band  or  diademe  wreathed  about  it,  which  was  the  ancient  marke 
and  token  of  a  king.  When  he  was  come  to  Caesar,  he  made  his 
fellow  runners  lift  him  up,  and  so  he  put  the  laurell  crowne  upon 
his  head,  signifying  thereby  that  he  deserved  to  be  king.  But 
Caesar,  making  as  though  he  refused  it,  turned  away  his  head. 
The  people  were  so  rejoiced  at  it,  that  they  al  clapped  their  hands 
for  joy.  Antonius  againe  did  put  it  on  his  head;  Caesar  againe  re- 
fused it :  and  thus  they  were  striving  off  and  on  a  great  while  to- 
gether. As  oft  as  Antonius  did  put  this  laurel  crowne  unto  him, 
a  few  of  his  followers  rejoiced  at  it;  and  as  oft  as  Caesar  refused 
it,  al  the  people  together  clapped  their  hands." 

267-273.  a  man  of  any  occupation  .  .  .  Jiis  iniirmity: — See 
Coriolanus,  IV.  vi.  97.  98:  "The  voice  of  occupation  and  the 
breath  of  garlic-eaters  !  "  Casca  means,  if  he  had  been  one  of  the 
plebeians  to  whom  Caesar  oft'ered  his  throat.  The  Poet  here 
borrows  an  incident  that  is  related  by  Plutarch  as  having  taken 

137 


Notes  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

place  on  another  occasion  some  time  before  the  offering  Caesar 
the  crown  in  public :  "  When  they  had  decreed  divers  honours 
for  him  in  the  Senate,  the  Consuls  and  Praetors,  accompanied 
with  the  whole  Senate,  went  unto  him  in  the  market-place,  where 
he  was  set  by  the  pulpit  for  orations,  to  tell  him  what  honours 
they  had  decreed  for  him  in  his  absence.  But  he,  sitting  still  in 
his  majestic,  disdaining  to  rise  up  unto  them,  when  they  came 
in,  as  if  they  had  been  private  men,  answered  them,  that  his 
honours  had  more  need  to  be  cut  off  than  enlarged.  This  did 
not  onely  offend  the  Senate  but  the  people  also,  to  see  that  he 
should  so  lightly  esteeme  of  the  magistrates  ;  insomuch  as  every 
man  that  might  lawfully  go  his  way  departed  thence  very  sor- 
rowfully. Thereupon  also ..  Caesar  rising  departed  home  to  his 
house,  and,  tearing  open  his  dublet-coller  making  his  necke  bare, 
he  cried  out  aloud  to  his  friends,  that  his  throate  was  readie  to 
offer  to  any  man  that  would  come  and  cut  it.  Notwithstanding, 
it  is  reported  that  afterwards,  to  excuse  his  folly,  he  imputed 
it  to  his  disease,  saying  that  their  wits  are  not  perfit  which  have 
this  disease  of  the  falling  evill,  when  standing  on  their  feete  they 
speake  to  the  people,  but  are  soone  troubled  with  a  trembling  of 
their  bodie,  and  a  sodaine  dimnesse  and  giddinesse." 

288,  289.  for  pulling  scarfs,  etc. : — This  is  related  in  Plutarch 
thus :  "  There  were  set  up  images  of  Caesar  in  the  city,  with  dia- 
demes  upon  their  heads,  like  kings.  Those  the  two  Tribunes, 
Flavius  and  Marullus,  went  and  pulled  downe ;  and  furthermore, 
meeting  with  them  that  saluted  Caesar  as  king,  they  committed 
them  to  prison.  The  people  followed  them,  rejoicing  at  it,  and 
called  them  Brutes,  because  of  Brutus  who  had  in  old  time  driven 
the  kings  out  of  Rome,  and  brought  the  kingdome  of  one  person 
unto  the  government  of  the  Senate  and  people.  Caesar  was  so 
offended  withall,  that  he  deprived  Marullus  and  Flavius  of  their 
Tribuneships,  and  spake  also  against  the  people,  and  called  them 
Bruti  and  Cumani,  to  wit,  beasts  and  fooles." 

312,313.  Thy  honourable  metal  .  .  .  disposed: — The  best 
metal  or  temper  may  be  worked  into  qualities  contrary  to  its 
disposition,  or  what  it  is  disposed  to. 

Scene  III. 

3  et  seq.  Plutarch,  in  the  Life  of  Julius  Ccesar,  gives  the  follow- 
lowing  account  of  these  wonders :  "  Touching  the  fires  in  the 
element,  and  spirits  running  up  and  downe  in  the  night,  and  also 

138 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Notes 

the  solitary  birds  to  be  seen  at  noon  daies  sitting  in  the  great 
market-place,  are  not  all  these  signes  perhaps  worth  the  noting 
in  such  a  wonderful  chance  as  happened?  But  Strabo  the  Phi- 
losopher writeth,  that  divers  men  were  seene  going  up  and  downe 
in  fire ;  and  furthermore,  that  there  was  a  slave  of  the  soldiers, 
that  did  cast  a  marvellous  burning  flame  out  of  his  hand ;  inso- 
much as  they  that  saw  it  thought  he  had  bene  burnt,  but  when 
the  fire  was  out  it  was  found  he  had  no  hurt." 

49.  thunder-stone : — This,  according  to  Craik,  "  is  the  imagi- 
nary product  of  the  thunder,  which  the  ancients  called  Brontia, 
mentioned  by  Pliny  as  a  species  of  gem,  and  as  that  which,  falling 
with  the  lightning,  does  the  mischief.  It  is  the  fossil  commonly 
called  the  Belemnite,  or  Finger-stone,  and  now  known  to  be  a 
shell.  We  still  talk  of  the  thunder-bolt,  which,  however,  is  com- 
monly confounded  with  the  lightning."  The  thunder-stone  was 
held  to  be  quite  distinct  from  the  lightning,  as  may  be  seen  from 
Cymbeline,  IV.  ii.  270,  271 : — 

Gui.  Fear  no  more  the  lightning-flash, 
Arv.  Nor  the  all-dreaded  thunder-stone. 

It  is  also  alluded  to  in  Othello,  V.  ii.  234,  235 : — 

"  Are  there  no  stones  in  heaven 
But  what  serve  for  the  thunder?" 

75.  lion  in  the  Capitol: — "Roars  in  the  Capitol  as  doth  the 
lion,"  explains  Craik.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  suppose,  as 
Wright  does,  that  the  Poet  imagined  lions  kept  in  the  Capitol,  as 
in  the  Tower  of  London. 

114.  My  anszver  must  be  made: — Johnson  explains  this  passage 
thus :  "  I  shall  be  called  to  account,  and  must  answer  as  for  sedi- 
tious words." 

ACT  SECOND. 
Scene  I. 

10  et  seq.  "  This  speech,'*  says  Coleridge,  "  is  singular ;  at  least 
I  do  not  at  present  see  into  Shakespeare's  motive,  his  rationale, 
or  in  what  point  of  view  he  meant  Brutus's  character  to  appear. 
For,  surely,  nothing  can  seem  more  discordant  with  our  historical 
preconceptions  of  Brutus,  or  more  lowering  to  the  intellect 
of  the  Stoico-Platonic  tyrannicide,  than  the  tenets  here  attributed 

ISO 


Notes  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

to  him;  namely,  that  he  would  have  no  objection  to  a  king,  or  to 
Caesar,  a  monarch  in  Rome,  would  Caesar  but  be  as  good  a 
monarch  as  he  now  seems  disposed  to  be !  .  .  .  What  char- 
acter did  Shakespeare  mean  his  Brutus  to  be?  " 

21-27.  'tis  a  common  proof,  etc. : — Daniel,  in  his  Civil  JVars, 
the  first  four  books  of  which  were  published  in  1595,  puts  a  simi- 
lar thought  into  the  mouth  of  Richard  when  on  the  point  of  being 
deposed  by  Bolingbroke  : — 

"  Th'  aspirer,  once  attain'd  unto  the  top, 
Cuts  off  those  means  by  which  himself  got  up ; 
And  with  a  harder  hand  and  straiter  rein 
Doth  curb  that  looseness  he  did  find  before ; 
Doubting  th'  occasion  like  might  serve  again : 
His  own  example  makes  him  fear  the  more." 

46.  et  scq.  This  passage  is  based  upon  the  following  from  Plu- 
tarch's Life  of  Brutus:  "But,  for  Brutus,  his  friends  and  coun- 
trimen,  both  by  divers  procurements  and  sundry  rumours  of  the 
city,  and  by  many  bils  also,  did  openly  call  him  to  do  that  he  did. 
For  under  the  image  of  his  ancestor,  Junius  Brutus,  that  drave 
the  kings  out  of  Rome,  they  wrote,  '  O,  that  it  pleased  the  gods 
thou  wert  now  alive,  Brutus !  '  and  againe, — '  That  thou  wert  here 
among  us  now  !  '  His  tribunall  or  chaire,  where  he  gave  audi- 
ence during  the  time  he  was  Praetor,  was  full  of  such  bils :  '  Bru- 
tus, thou  art  asleep,  and  art  not  Brutus  indeed !  ' " 

66-69.  "  By  instruments,"  says  Blakeway,  "  I  understand  our 
bodily  powers,  our  members :  as  Othello  calls  his  eyes  and  hands 
his  speculative  and  active  instruments.  So  intending  to  paint,  as 
he  does  very  finely,  the  inward  conflict  which  precedes  the  com- 
mission of  some  dreadful  crime,  he  represents,  as  I  conceive 
him,  the  genius,  or  soul,  consulting  with  the  body,  and,  as  it 
were,  questioning  the  limbs,  the  instruments  which  are  to  per- 
form this  deed  of  death,  whether  they  can  undertake  to  bear  her 
out  in  the  affair,  whether  they  can  screw  up  their  courage  to  do 
what  she  shall  enjoin  them.  The  tumultuous  commotion  of  op- 
posing sentiments  and  feelings  produced  by  the  firmness  of  the 
soul,  contending  with  the  secret  misgivings  of  the  body ;  during 
which  the  mental  faculties  are,  though  not  actually  dormant,  yet 
in  a  sort  of  waking  stupor.  '  crushed  by  one  overwhelming 
image ' ;  is  finely  compared  to  a  phantasm  of  a  hideous  dream,  and 
by  the  state  of  man  suffering  the  nature  of  an  insurrection." 

140 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Notes 

70.  Cassius  had  married  Junia,  the  sister  of  Brutus;  hence  the 
former  is  here  spoken  of  as  the  latter's  brother. 

119.  by  lottery: — Steevens  thinks  there  may  be  an  allusion 
here  to  the  custom  of  decimation,  that  is,  the  selection  by  lot  of 
every  tenth  soldier  in  a  general  mutiny  for  punishment.  The 
meaning  probably  is,  by  chance  or  the  caprice  of  the  tyrant. 

218.  go  along  by  him: — That  is,  by  his  house;  make  that  your 
way  home. 

233.  [Enter  Portia.]  The  matter  of  the  following  noble  dialogue 
is  thus  delivered  in  Plutarch's  Life  of  Brutus :  "  His  wife  Porcia 
was  the  daughter  of  Cato,  whom  Brutus  maried,  being  his  cousin ; 
not  a  maiden,  but  a  young  widow  after  the  death  of  her  first  hus- 
band, Bibulus.  This  ladie,  loving  her  husband  well,  and  being  of 
a  noble  courage,  as  she  was  also  wise ;  because  she  would  not 
aske  her  husband  what  he  ayled  before  she  had  made  some  proofe 
by  herselfe ;  tooke  a  litle  razour,  and,  causing  her  women  to  go  out 
of  her  chamber,  gave  herselfe  a  great  gash  withall  in  her  thigh; 
and  incontinently  after  a  vehement  feaver  tooke  her,  by  reason  of 
the  paine  of  her  wound.  Then,  perceiving  her  husband  was  mar- 
vellously out  of  quiet,  and  could  take  no  rest,  she  spake  in  this 
sort  unto  him :  '  I,  being,  O  Brutus !  the  daughter  of  Cato,  was 
maried  unto  thee;  not  to  be  thy  bedfellow  and  companion  at 
board  onely,  like  a  harlot,  but  to  be  partaker  also  with  thee  of  thy 
good  and  evill  fortune.  Now,  for  thyselfe,  I  can  find  no  cause 
of  fault  in  thee  touching  our  match ;  but,  for  my  part,  how  may 
I  shew  my  duty  towards  thee,  and  how  much  I  would  do  for  thy 
sake,  if  I  cannot  constantly  beare  a  secret  m.ischance  or  grief e 
with  thee?  I  confesse  that  a  womans  wit  commonly  is  too  weake 
to  keepe  a  secret  safely :  but  yet  good  education  and  the  company 
of  vertuous  men  have  some  power  to  reforme  the  defect  of  na- 
ture. And,  for  myselfe.  I  have  this  benefite,  moreover,  that  I 
am  the  daughter  of  Cato,  and  wife  of  Brutus.  Notwithstand- 
ing, I  did  not  trust  to  any  of  these  things,  until  now  I  have  found 
by  experience,  that  no  paine  or  griefe  whatsoever  can  overcome 
me.'  With  these  words,  shee  shewed  him  the  wound  on  her 
thigh,  and  told  him  what  she  had  done  to  prove  herselfe.  Brutus 
was  amazed  to  heare  what  she  sayd  unto  him ;  and,  lifting  up  his 
hands  to  heaven,  he  besought  the  goddes  to  give  him  the  grace 
that  he  might  be  found  a  husband  worthy  of  so  noble  a  wife  as 
Porcia:  so  he  then  did  comfort  her  the  best  he  could." 

315.  To    zvear    a    ArrrA-iV/:— Shakespeare     has    given     to    the 
Romans  the  manners  of  his  own  time.    It  was  a  common  practice 

141 


Notes  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

in  England  for  those  who  were  sick  to  wear  a  kerchief  on  their 
heads.  So  in  Fuller's  Worthies  of  Cheshire :  "  If  any  there  be 
sick,  they  make  him  a  posset  and  tye  a  kerchief  on  his  head ;  and 
if  that  will  not  mend  him,  then  God  be  merciful  to  him." 

Scene  II. 

7.  \ Enter  Calpiirnia.]  Plutarch's  Life  of  Julius  Cccsar  has  fur- 
nished the  basis  of  the  following  dialogue :  "  C?esar  self  also, 
doing  sacrifice  unto  the  gods,  found  that  one  of  the  beasts  which 
was  sacrificed  had  no  hart ;  and  that  was  a  strange  thing  in  na- 
ture, how  a  beast  could  live  without  a  heart.  And  the  very  day 
before,  Caesar,  supping  with  Marcus  Lepidus,  sealed  certaine  let- 
ters, as  he  was  wont  to  do,  at  the  board :  so,  talk  falling  out 
amongst  them  what  death  was  best,  he  cried  out  aloud,  '  Death 
unlooked  for.'  Then,  going  to  bed  the  same  night,  as  his  man- 
ner was,  and  lying  with  his  wife  Calpurnia,  all  the  windows  and 
doores  of  his  chamber  flying  open,  the  noise  awoke  him,  and 
made  him  afraid;  but  more,  when  he  heard  his  wife,  being  fast 
asleepe,  weepe  and  sigh,  and  put  forth  many  fumbling  lamentable 
speeches;  for  she  dreamed  that  Caesar  was  slaine,  and  that  she 
had  him  in  her  armes.  Caesar  rising  in  the  morning,  she  prayed 
him,  if  it  were  possible,  not  to  go  out  of  the  doores  that  day,  but 
to  adjourne  the  session  of  the  Senate  until  another  day:  and 
that,  if  he  made  no  reckoning  of  her  dreame,  yet  he  would  search 
further  of  the  soothsaiers,  to  know  what  should  happen  him 
that  day.  It  seemed  that  Caesar  likewise  did  feare  or  suspect 
somewhat,  because  his  wife  Calpurnia  until  that  time  was  never 
given  to  any  feare  or  superstition.  When  the  soothsaiers,  having 
sacrificed  many  beasts  one  after  another,  told  him  that  none  did 
like  them;  then  he  determined  to  send  Antonius  to  adjourne  the 
session  of  the  Senate," 

13.  /  never  stood  on  ceremonies: — Never  paid  a  regard  to 
prodigies  or  omens. 

24.  ghosts  did  shriek,  etc.: — Compare  Hamlet,  I,  i.  1 13-120. 

31.  This  may  have  been  suggested  by  Suetonius,  who  relates 
that  a  blazing  star  appeared  for  seven  days  together  during  the 
celebration  of  games  instituted  by  Augustus  in  honour  of  Julius. 
The  common  people  believed  that  this  indicated  his  reception 
among  the  gods :  his  statues  were  accordingly  ornajnented  with 
its  figure,  and  medals  struck  on  which  it  was  represented.  There 
is  a  curious  old  anecdote  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  who,  "  being  dis- 

142 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Notes 

suaded  from  looking  on  a  comet,  with  a  courage  equal  to  the 
greatness  of  her  state  caused  the  windowe  to  be  sette  open,  and 
said,  Jacta  est  alca — the  dice  are  thrown." 

2,2,  ZZ-  So  in  Plutarch :  "  When  some  of  his  friends  did  coun- 
sel! him  to  have  a  guard  for  the  safety  of  his  person,  and  some 
also  did  offer  themselves  to  serve  him,  he  would  never  consent, 
but  said  it  was  better  to  die  once,  than  alwayes  to  be  afraid  of 
death.'' 

yG.  statue : — In  Shakespeare's  time  statue  was  pronounced  in- 
differently as  a  word  of  two  syllables  or  three.  Bacon  uses  it 
repeatedly  as  a  trisyllable,  and  spells  it  siatua,  as  in  his  Advance- 
ment of  Learning:  "It  is  not  possible  to  have  the  true  pictures 
or  staiitas  of  Cyrus,  Alexander,  Ca?sar,  no,  nor  of  the  kings  or 
great  personages  of  much  later  years."  The  measure  evidently 
requires  that  it  be  a  word  of  three  syllables  here,  as  also  in  III. 
ii.  192.  "  Even  at  the  base  of  Pompey's  statue."  Many  editions 
print  statua  in  both  places. 

104.  reason  to  my  love  is  liable: — That  is,  reason,  or  propriety 
of  speech  and  conduct,  stands  second,  gives  way  to  my  love. 
This  scene  is  taken  very  literally  from  Plutarch :  "  In  the  meane 
time  came  Decius  Brutus,  surnamed  Albinus,  in  whom  Caesar 
put  such  confidence  that  in  his  last  will  and  testament  he  had 
appointed  him  to  be  his  heire ;  and  yet  was  he  of  the  conspiracie 
with  Brutus  and  Cassius.  He,  fearing  that  if  Caesar  did  adjourne 
the  session  that  day  the  conspiracie  would  be  betrayed,  laughed 
at  the  Soothsayers,  and  reproved  Caesar,  saying  that  he  gave 
the  Senate  occasion  to  mislike  with  him,  and  that  they  might 
think  he  mocked  them,  considering  that  by  his  commandment 
they  were  assembled ;  and  that  they  were  ready  willingly  to  grant 
him  all  things,  and  to  proclaime  him  king  of  all  his  provinces  of 
the  Empire  out  of  Italy,  and  that  he  should  weare  his  diademe  in 
all  other  places  both  by  sea  and  land.  And  furthermore,  if  any 
man  should  tel  them  from  him  they  should  depart  for  that  pres- 
ent time,  and  return  againe  when  Calpurnia  should  have  better 
dreames,  what  would  his  enemies  and  ill-willers  say,  and  how 
could  they  like  of  his  friends  words?  And  who  could  perswade 
them  otherwise,  but  that  they  would  think  his  dominion  a  slavery 
unto  them,  and  him  tyrannical!  in  himselfe?  And  yet,  if  it  be  so, 
said  he,  that  you  utterly  mislike  of  this  day,  it  is  better  that  you 
go  yourselfe  in  person,  and,  saluting  the  Senate,  dismisse  them 
til  another  time.  Therewithal!  he  took  Caesar  by  the  hand  and 
brought  him  out  of  his  house." 

143 


Notes  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Scene  III. 

In  this  Scene  the  Poet  has  followed  Plutarch  very  closely: 
"  One  Artemidorus,  born  in  the  ile  of  Cnidos,  a  doctor  of 
rhetorick  in  the  Greeke  tongue,  who  by  means  of  his  profession 
was  very  familiar  with  Brutus  confederates,  and  therefore  knew 
the  most  part  of  al  their  practices  against  Caesar,  came  and 
brought  him  a  litle  bill,  written  with  his  owne  hand,  of  all  that 
he  meant  to  tel  him.  He,  marking  how  Caesar  received  all  the 
supplications  that  were  offered  him,  and  that  he  gave  them 
straight  to  his  men  that  were  about  him,  pressed  nearer  to  him, 
and  said,  '  Caesar,  reade  this  memoriall  to  yourselfe,  and  that 
quickly,  for  they  be  matters  of  great  weight,  and  touch  you 
nearly.'  Caesar  took  it  of  him,  but  could  never  reade  it,  though 
he  many  times  attempted  it,  for  the  number  of  people  that  did 
salute  him;  but,  holding  it  still  in  his  hand,  keeping  it  to  him- 
selfe,  went  on  withall  into  the  Senate-house." 

Scene  IV. 

In  Plutarch's  Life  of  Brutus  the  incident  of  this  Scene  is  re- 
lated as  follows :  "  In  the  meane  time,  there  came  one  of  Brutus 
men  post  hast  unto  him.  and  told  him  his  wife  was  dying.  For 
Porcia,  being  very  caref ull  and  pensive  for  that  which  was  to  come, 
and  being  too  weake  to  away  with  so  great  and  inward  griefe 
of  mind,  could  hardly  keepe  within,  but  was  frighted  with  every 
little  noyse  and  crie  she  heard ;  asking  every  man  that  came 
from  the  market-place  what  Brutus  did,  and  sending  messenger 
after  messenger,  to  know  what  newes.  At  length,  C^sars  com- 
ming  being  prolonged,  Porciaes  weaknesse  was  not  able  to  hold 
out  any  longer ;  and  thereupon  shee  sodainly  swounded,  that  she 
had  no  leysure  to  go  to  her  chamber,  but  was  taken  in  the 
middest  of  her  house.  Howbeit,  she  soone  came  to  herselfe 
againe,  and  so  was  layd  in  her  bed,  and  attended  by  her  women. 
When  Brutus  heard  these  newes.  it  grieved  him ;  yet  he  left  not 
off  the  care  of  his  countrie.  neither  went  to  his  house  for  any 
newes  he  heard.'' 

42,  43.  Brutus  hath  a  suit,  etc. : — These  words  Portia  addresses 
to  Lucius  to  deceive  him  by  assigning  a  false  cause  for  her  pres- 
ent perturbation. 

144 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Notes 

ACT  THIRD. 
Scene  I. 

yy.  Et  tu,  Brute f — "There  is  no  ancient  Latin  authority,  I 
believe,"  says  Craik,  "  for  this  famous  exclamation,  although  in 
Suetonius,  i.  82,  Caesar  is  made  to  address  Brutus  Kat  <tv,  tckvov 
(And  thou  too,  my  son?).  It  may  have  occurred  as  it  stands 
here  in  the  Latin  play  on  the  same  subject  which  is  recorded  to 
have  been  acted  at  Oxford  in  1582;  and  it  is  found  in  The  True 
Tragedy  of  Richard  Duke  of  York,  first  printed  in  1595,  on 
which  3  Henry  VI.  is  founded,  as  also  in  a  poem  by  S.  Nicholson, 
entitled  Acolastus  his  Afterwit,  printed  in  1600,  in  both  of  which 
nearly  contemporary  productions  we  have  the  same  line — '  Et  tu, 
Brute?  Wilt  thou  stab  Caesar  too?'"  But  Stokes  declares  that 
it  is  in  the  Latin  play  of  1582. 

1 16- 1 18.  So  oft  .  .  .  liberty: — There  is  nothing  in  the  play 
more  puzzling  to  us  than  this  and  the  two  preceding  speeches. 
It  seems  as  though  the  Poet  either  committed  a  great  oversight 
in  making  his  heroes  talk  thus,  or  else  meant  it  as  a  very  signifi- 
cant and  characteristic  passage.  Did  he  mean  to  indicate  a  sort 
of  sentimental  hanging  and  brooding  over  their  own  virtue,  to 
suck  out  of  it  self-solacemcnt  and  self-assurance  of  fame,  such 
as  might  naturally  grow  from  making  patriotism  the  special  pur- 
pose and  profession  of  their  lives? 

177,  178.  Your  voice,  etc. : — Blakeway  observes,  that  Shake- 
speare has  maintained  the  consistency  of  Cassius's  character, 
who,  being  selfish  and  greedy  himself,  endeavours  to  influence 
Antony  by  similar  motives.  Brutus,  on  the  other  hand,  is  in- 
variably represented  as  disinterested  and  generous,  and  is 
adorned  by  the  Poet  with  so  many  good  qualities  that  we  are 
almost  tempted  to  forget  that  he  was  an  assassin. 

207.  208.  O  zvorld  .  .  .  of  thee : — Coleridge  strongly  main- 
tained that  these  two  lines  were  interpolated  by  some  actor,  and 
that  we  have  but  to  read  the  passage  without  them,  to  see  that 
they  never  were  in  it.  He  adds :  "  I  venture  to  say  there  is  no 
instance  in  Shakespeare  fairly  like" this.  Conceits  he  has;  but  they 
not  only  rise  out  of  some  word  in  the  lines  before,  but  also  lead 
on  to  the  thought  in  the  lines  following.  Here  the  conceit  is  a 
mere  alien:  Antony  forgets  an  image,  when  he  is  even  touching 
it,  and  then  recollects  it,  when  the  thought  last  in  his  mind  must 
have  led  him  away  from  it."     But  the  same  and  similar  quibbles 

145 


Notes  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

are  too  frequent  in  Shakespeare  to  allow  of  our  accepting  fully 
the  great  critic's  opinion. 

262.  By  men  Antony  means  not  mankind  in  general.  The 
scope  of  the  curse  is  limited  by  the  subsequent  words,  the  parts 
of  Italy,  and  in  these  confines. 

289.  A  play  is  here  intended,  as  in  I.  ii.  156,  on  the  words 
Rome  and  room. 

Scene  II. 

4,  part  the  numbers: — That  is,  as  Craik  explains,  divide  the 
multitude. 

13  ct  seq.  In  this  celebrated  speech,  which,  to  a  critical  taste, 
is  far  from  being  a  model  of  style  either  for  oratory  or  any- 
thing else,  the  Poet  seems  to  have  aimed  at  imitating  the  manner 
actually  ascribed  to  Brutus.  To  quote  from  North's  Plutarch : 
"  They  do  note  that,  in  some  of  his  Epistles,  he  counterfeited  that 
briefe  compendious  maner  of  speech  of  the  Lacedaemonians.  As, 
when  the  war  was  begun,  he  wrot  to  the  Pergamenians  in  this 
sort :  *  I  understand  you  have  given  Dolabella  money :  if  you  have 
done  it  willingly,  you  confesse  you  have  offended  me ;  if  against 
your  wils,  shew  it  by  giving  me  willingly.'  Another  time  unto 
the  Samians :  'Your  counsels  be  long,  your  doings  be  slow;  con- 
sider the  end.'  And  in  another  Epistle  he  wrote  unto  the 
Patareians :  '  The  Xanthians,  despising  my  good  wil,  have  made 
their  country  a  grave  of  despaire;  and  the  Patareians,  that  put 
themselves  into  my  protection,  have  lost  no  jot  of  their  liberty: 
and  therefore,  whilest  you  have  liberty,  either  chuse  the  judge- 
ment of  the  Patareians  or  the  fortune  of  the  Xanthians.'  These 
were  Brutus  maner  of  letters,  which  were  honoured  for  their 
briefnesse."  And  Shakespeare's  idea,  as  followed  out  in  this 
speech,  is  sustained  also  by  the  Dialogus  de  Oratoribus,  ascribed 
to  Tacitus ;  wherein  it  is  said  that  Brutus's  style  of  eloquence 
was  censured  as  otiosum  ct  disjunctum.  For,  as  Verplanck  re- 
marks, *'  the  disjunctum,  the  broken-up  style,  without  oratorical 
continuity,  is  precisely  that  assumed  by  the  dramatist." 

79.  bury : — "  Shakespeare,"  says  Wright,  "  was  no  doubt  think- 
ing of  his  own  time  and  country.  The  custom  of  burning  the 
dead  had  not  been  in  use  in  Rome  very  long  before  the  time  of 
Caesar." 

80,  81.  Compare  this  with  the  passage  in  Henry  VIII.,  IV.  ii, 
45:— 

lj6 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Notes 

"Men's  evil  manners  live  in  brass;  their  virtues 
We  write  in  water." 

193.  ran  blood : — The  image  seems  to  be  that  the  blood  flowing 
from  Caesar's  wounds  appeared  to  run  from  the  statue.  The 
words  are  from  North's  Plutarch :  "  Against  the  very  base 
whereon  Pompey's  image  stood,  which  ran  all  of  a  gore-blood 
till  he  was  slain." 

Scene  III. 

-  The  matter  of  this  Scene  is  taken  from  Plutarch's  Life  of 
Brutus :  "  There  was  a  poet  called  Cinna,  who  had  been  no  par- 
laker  of  the  conspiracy,  but  was  alvvay  one  of  Caesars  chiefest 
friends.  He  dreamed,  the  night  before,  that  Caesar  bad  him  to 
supper  with  him,  and  that,  he  refusing  to  goe,  Csesar  was  very 
inipbrtunate  with  him,  and  compelled  him,  so  that  at  length  he 
led  him  by  the  hand  into  a  great  darke  place,  where,  being  mar- 
vellously affraid.  he  was  driven  to  follow  him  in  spite  of  his 
heart.  This  dreame  put  him  all  night  into  a  feaver,  and  yet,  the 
next  morning,  when  he  heard  that  they  caried  Caesars  body  to 
burial,  and  being  ashamed  not  to  accompany  his  funerals,  he  went 
out  of  his  house,  and  thrust  himselfe  into  the  prease  of  the  com- 
mon people,  that  were  in  a  great  uprore.  And  because  some  one 
called  him  by  his  name  Cinna,  the  people,  thinking  he  had  been 
that  Cinna  who,  in  an  oration  he  made,  had  spoken  very  evill  of 
Catsar,  falling  upon  him  in  their  rage,  slue  him  outright  in  the 
market-place. 

2.  The  Poet  may  mean  that  many  things  besides  his  dream  of 
the  feast  charge  his  fancy  unluckily.  Steevens  remarks,  "  I  learn 
from  an  old  black-letter  book  on  Fortune-telling,  etc.,  that  to 
dream  '  of  being  at  banquets  betokeneth  misfortune.'  "  It  were 
better,  White  thinks,  had  Steevens  given  his  authority  here  as 
well  as  elsewhere. 

ACT  FOURTH. 
Scene  I. 

{A  house  in  Rome.]  The  place  of  this  Scene  is  not  marked  in 
the  original,  but  is  shown  to  be  at  Rome,  by  Lepidus's  being  sent 
to  Caesar's  house,  and  told  that  he  will  find  his  confederates  "  or 
here,  or  at  the  Capitol."     In  fact,  however,  the  triumvirs  did  not 

147 


Notes  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

meet  at  Rome  to  settle  the  proscription,  but  on  a  little  island  in 
the  river  Rhenus  (Reno),  near  Bononia,  the  present  Bologna. 
The  Poet  most  likely  knew  this,  as  he  must  have  read  in  Plu- 
tarch how  "  all  three  met  together  in  an  island  environed  round 
about  with  a  little  river." 

4.  Publiiis: — Either  the  Poet  or  the  printer  fell  into  an  error 
here;  the  true  name  of  this  person  being  not  Piiblius  but  Lucius. 
Thus  in  Plutarch's  Life  of  Antonius:  "  Csesar  left  Cicero  to  An- 
tonius  will ;  Antonius  also  forsooke  Lucius  Caesar,  who  was  his 
uncle  by  his  mother ;  and  both  of  them  together  suffered  Lepidus 
to  kill  his  own  brother  Paulus." 

48,  49.  we  are  at  the  stake,  etc. : — An  allusion  to  bear-baiting. 
So  in  Macbeth,  V.  vii. : — 

"  They  have  tied  me  to  a  stake ;  I  cannot  fly, 
But  bear-like  I  must  fight  the  course."  ■* 

Scene  II. 

5.  To  do  you  salutation  : — A  common  form  of  expression.  So 
in  Richard  IIL,  V.  iii.  209,  210:  "The  early  village-cock  hath 
twice  done  salutation  to  the  morn." 

16.  instances: — This,  according  to  Dyce.  "is  a  word  used  by 
Shakespeare  with  various  shades  of  meaning,  which  it  is  not  al- 
ways easy  to  distinguish — 'motive,  inducement,  cause,  ground; 
symptom,  prognostic ;  information,  assurance ;  proof,  example, 
indication.'  "  Here  it  is  explained  by  Craik  as  assiduities,  and 
by  Schmidt  as  proofs  of  familiarity. 

23.  hot  at  hand: — "That  is,"  says  Craik,  "apparently,  when 
held  by  the  hand,  or  led ;  or  rather,  perhaps,  when  acted  upon 
only  by  the  rein."  Hudson  explains  it  as  meaning  "  horses 
spirited  or  mettlesome  when  held  back,  or  restrained."  See  the 
following  passage  in  Henry  VIIL,  V.  iii.  21-24: — 

"  Those  that  tame  wild  horses 
Pace  'em  not  in  their  hands  to  make  'em  gentle. 
But  stop  their  mouths  with  stubborn  bits  and  spur  'em, 
Till  they  obey  the  manage." 

Scene  III. 

The  last  Scene  is  supposed  to  pass  outside  of  Brutus's  tent, 
into  which  he  invites  Cassius  in  his  last  speech  but  one.     But  in 

148 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Notes 

the  Folio,  where  the  divisions  of  the  scenes  are  not  indicated 
in  this  play,  the  simple  direction  is,  "Exeunt  [Lucilius,  Titinius, 
Lucius,  etc.]  Mancnt  Brutus  and  Cassius."  The  audients  were 
plainly  to  suppose  a  change  of  scene  here. 

20,21.  This  question  is  far  from  implying  that  any  of  those 
who  touched  Caesar's  body  were  villains.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
an  indirect  way  of  asserting  that  there  was  not  one  man  among 
them  who  was  base  enough  to  stab  him  for  any  cause  but  that  of 
justice. 

32.  To  make  conditions : — To  decide  on  what  terms  it  is  fit  to 
confer  the  offices  at  my  disposal. 

156.  szvallow'd  Hre: — So  in  North's  Plutarch:  "And  for  Por- 
cia,  Brutus  wife,  Nicolaus  the  philosopher  and  Valerius  Maxi- 
mus  do  write  that  she,  determining  to  kill  herselfe  (her  parents 
and  friends  carefully  looking  to  keepe  her  from  it),  tooke  bote 
burning  coles  and  cast  them  into  her  mouth,  and  kept  her  mouth 
so  close  that  she  choked  herselfe.  There  was  a  letter  of  Brutus 
found,  written  to  his  friends,  complaining  of  their  negligence, 
that,  his  wife  being  sicke,  they  wold  not  helpe  her,  but  suffered 
her  to  kill  herself,  chusing  to  die  rather  than  to  languish  in 
paine." 

194.  in  art: — That  is,  in  theory  as  opposed  to  practice. 

252.  book : — This  characteristic  little  incident  of  the  book  was 
suggested  by  a  passage  in  Plutarch's  Life  of  Brutus.  It  makes  a 
part  of  the  account  there  given  of  the  apparition :  "  As  they  pre- 
pared to  passe  over  out  of  Asia  into  Europe,  there  went  a 
rumour  that  there  appeared  a  wonderfull  signe  unto  him.  Brutus 
v/as  a  carefull  man,  and  slept  very  little,  both  for  that  his  diet 
was  moderate,  as  also  because  he  was  continually  occupied.  He 
never  slept  in  the  day  time,  and  in  the  night  no  longer  then  the 
time  he  was  driven  to  be  alone,  and  when  every  body  else  tooke 
their  rest.  But  now  whilest  he  was  in  the  warre,  and  his  head 
over-busily  occupied  to  thinke  of  his  affaires  and  what  would 
happen,  having  slumbered  a  little  after  supper,  he  spent  all  the 
rest  of  the  night  in  dispatching  of  his  weightiest  causes ;  and, 
after  he  had  taken  order  for  them,  if  he  had  any  leisure  left  him, 
he  would  read  some  booke  till  the  third  watch  of  the  night,  at 
what  time  the  captains  and  colonels  did  use  to  come  to  him." 

274.  [Enter  the  Ghost  of  Cccsar.]  In  Plutarch's  Life  of  Brutus 
this  apparition  is  not  spoken  of  as  the  ghost  of  Caesar,  but  only 
as  "  a  wonderfull  strange  and  monstrous  shape  of  a  bodie  coming 
towards  him."    The  point  is  of  little  moment,  save  as  showing  the 

149 


Notes  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

Poet's  care  to  make  the  most  out  of  his  materials.  In  the  Life 
of  Julius  CcFsar  he  had  the  following:  "Above  all,  the  gJiost  that 
appeared  unto  Brutus  shewed  plainly  that  the  gods  were  offended 
with  the  murther  of  Caesar.  The  vision  was  thus :  Brutus,  being 
ready  to  passe  over  his  armie  from  the  city,  slept  every  night 
in  his  tent ;  and,  being  yet  awake,  thinking  of  his  affaires,  he 
thought  he  heard  a  noise  at  his  tent-doore,  and,  looking  towards 
the  lamp  that  waxed  very  dim,  he  saw  a  horrible  vision  of  a  man, 
of  a  wonderfull  greatnesse  and  dreadful  looke,  which  at  the  first 
made  him  marvellously  afraid.  But,  when  he  saw  that  it  did 
him  no  hurt,  but  stood  by  his  bedside  and  said  nothing,  at  length 
he  asked  him  what  he  was.  The  image  answered  him,  '  I  am  thy 
ill  angell,  Brutus,  and  thou  shall  see  me  by  the  city  of  Phillippes.' 
Then  Brutus  replied,  '  Well,  I  shall  see  thee  then.'  Therewithall 
the  spirit  presently  vanished.  After  that  time,  Brutus  being  neare 
unto  the  city  of  Phillippes,  this  spirit  appeared  againe  unto  him, 
but  spake  never  a  word.  Thereupon  Brutus,  knowing  that  he 
should  die,  did  put  himselfe  to  all  hazard  in  battel,  but  yet,  fight- 
ing could  not  be  slaine." 

ACT  FIFTH. 
Scene  I. 

4.  battles: — The  propriety  of  this  term,  used  in  the  plural  for 
forces,  armies,  appears  when  it  is  remembered  that  Cassius  and 
Brutus  had  each  an  army,  or  division.  Compare  Henry  V .,  IV. 
Prologue,  9:  "Each  battle  sees  the  other's  umber'd  face." 

14.  Their  bloody  sign  of  battle: — So  in  Plutarch's  Life  of 
Brutus:  "The  next  morning  by  break  of  day,  the  Signall  of 
Battell  was  set  out  in  Brutus  and  Cassius  Camp,  which  was  an 
arming  Scarlet  Coat." 

19.  Exigent : — For  the  only  other  use  of  this  word  for  exigency, 
see  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  IV.  xiv.  63:  "When  the  exigent 
should  come."  In  a  single  other  instance  only  does  Shakespeare 
u?e  the  word,  and  there  (i  Henry  VL,  II.  v.  8,  9)  it  means  end: — 

"  These  eyes,  like  lamps  whose  wasting  oil  is  spent, 
Wax  dim,  as  drawing  to  their  exigent.'' 
S3.   The   posture,   etc. : — Here   are   should   be  is.    in   agreement 
with  the  nominative  posture.     Hudson  remarks  that  "  more  cor- 
rect writers  than  Shakespeare  have  committed  this  error,  where 

150 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Notes 

a  plural  noun  immediately  precedes  the  verb,  although  such  noun 
be  not  the  subject  of  the  verb." 

111-113.  It  has  been  said  that  there  is  an  apparent  contradic- 
tion between  the  sentiments  Brutus  expresses  in  this  and  in  his 
former  speech;  but  there  is  no  real  one.  Brutus  had  laid  down 
to  himself,  as  a  principle,  to  abide  every  chance  and  extremity  of 
war;  but  when  Cassius  reminds  him  of  the  disgrace  of  being 
led  in  triumph  through  the  streets  of  Rome,  he  acknowledges  that 
to  be  a  trial  which  he  could  not  endure.  The  passage  seems  de- 
signed to  indicate  a  struggle  between  the  speculative  and  the 
practical  in  the  mind  of  Brutus.  Experience  is  at  length  growing 
too  strong  for  his  philosophy ;  and  he  here  wavers  between  his 
cherished  ideal  of  right  and  the  suggestions  of  a  pressing 
exigency.  But  what  shall  we  say  of  the  remark  with  which  he 
closes  his  oration  showing  "the  reason  of  our  Csesar's  death"? 
He  there  says,  "  I  have  the  same  dagger  for  myself,  when  it  shall 
please  my  country  to  need  my  death."  Were  these  discrepancies 
or  variations  of  temper  and  purpose  intended  by  the  Poet  as  a 
part  of  Brutus's  character,  or  were  they  mere  slips  of  memory  in 
Shakespeare  ? 

Scene  III. 

20.  Cassius  is  now  on  a  hill :  he  therefore  means  a  hill  some- 
what higher  than  that  he  is  on. 

31.  Nozv  some  light: — White  and  Hudson  print  'light,  but,  as 
Rolfe  points  out,  "the  word  (A.  S.  lihtan)  is  not  a  contraction 
of  alight,  and  is  common  enough  in  prose." 

43.  hilts: — This  plural  for  hilt  was  common  in  Shakespeare's 
time.  So  in  Richard  III.,  I.  iv.  155:  "Hilts  of  thy  sword." 
Shakespeare  applies  hilts  to  a  single  weapon  five  times,  and  three 
times  he  has  hilt. 

61.  Sink  to  nigJit: — Craik  takes  this  "to  be  an  expression  of 
the  same  kind  with  sink  to  rest,"  a  far  nobler  sense,  as  he  ob- 
serves, than  that  given  by  those  who  print,  as  some  do,  to-night. 

105.  His  funerals: — The  plural  was  the  commoner  form  in 
Shakespeare's  day,  and  is  generally  used  by  him.  For  an  ex- 
ample of  this  use  see  the  first  note  under  HI.  iii.  of  this  play. 

Scene  V. 

19.  And  this  last  night,  etc.: — So  Plutarch's  Life  of  C(esar: 
"The  second  Battell  being  at  hand,  this   Spirit  appeared   again 

151 


Notes  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

unto  him,  but  spake  never  a  word."  Wc  read  in  the  Life  of 
Brutus:  "The  Romans  called  the  Valley  between  both  Camps 
the  Philippian  Fields." 

68-70.  This  was  tJie  noblest  Roman,  etc. : — Plutarch,  in  the 
Life  of  Brutus,  declares:  "It  was  said  that  Antonius  spake  it 
openly  divers  times,  that  he  thought,  that  of  all  them  that  had 
slain  Caesar,  there  was  none  but  Brutus  onely  that  was  moved  to 
do  it,  as  thinking  the  act  commendable  of  it  self :  but  that  all 
the  other  Conspiratours  did  conspire  his  death  for  some  private 
malice  or  envy,  that  they  otherwise  did  bear  unto  him." 

73-75.  His  life  was  gentle,  etc. : — There  is  a  likeness  between 
this  passage  and  one  in  Drayton's  Barons'  Wars,  which  appears  in 
this  form  in  the  edition  of  1603 : — 

"  Such  one  he  was  (of  him  we  boldly  say) 
In  whose  rich  soule  all  sovereign  powers  did  sute, 
In  whom  in  peace  the  elements  all  lay 
So  mixt,  as  none  could  sovereigntie  impute; 
As  all  did  gouerne,  yet  all  did  obey, 
His  liuely  temper  was  so  absolute, 

That 't  seem'd,'  when  Heaven  his  modell  first  began, 
In  him  it  shew'd  perfection  in  a  man." 

This  stanza  appeared  unaltered  in  four  subsequent  editions;  but 
in  a  fifth,  in  1619,  it  was  given  with  the  following  slight  varia- 
tions : — 

"  He  was  a  man  (then  boldly  dare  to  say,) 
In  whose  rich  Soule  the  Virtues  well  did  sute: 
In  whom,  so  mix'd  the  Elements  all  lay, 
That  none  to  one  could  Sou'reigntie  impute; 
As  all  did  gouerne,  so  did  all  obay; 
He  of  a  temper  was  so  absolute, 
As  that  it  seem'd,  when  Nature  him  began, 
She  meant  to  shew  all  that  might  he  in  Man'' 

In  the  original  version  of  The  Barons'  Wars  (1596),  which  Dray- 
ton entirely  recast  before  1603,  there  is  no  trace  of  this  stanza. 
From  these  facts  Malone  concluded  that  "  Drayton  was  the  copy- 
ist [of  Shakespeare]  as  his  verses  originally  stood,"  and  that  "  in 
the  altered  stanza  he  certainly  was."  But  even  if  the  likeness  be- 
tween the  passages  in  question  must  necessarily  be  the  conse- 
quence of  imitation  on  the  part  of  one  poet,  it  would  not  follow 

152 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Notes 

that  Drayton  was  the  copyist,  for  we  know  that  Shakespeare 
was  ready  enough  to  take  a  hint  or  even  a  thought  from  any 
quarter.  But  this  resemblance  implies  no  imitation  on  either  side. 
For  the  notion  that  man  was  composed  of  the  four  elements, 
earth,  air,  fire,  and  water,  and  that  the  well-balanced  mixture  of 
these  produced  the  perfection  of  humanity,  was  commonly  held 
during  the  sixteenth,  and  the  first  half,  at  least,  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  the  writers  of  which  period  worked  it  up  in  all 
manner  of  forms.  See  Ben  Jonson's  Cynthia's  Revels,  II.  iii. : 
"  A  creature  of  a  most  perfect  and  divine  temper,  one  in  whom 
the  humours  and  elements  are  peaceably  met.  without  emulation 
of  precedency."  Many  other  resemblances  quite  as  striking  occur 
in  the  use  of  this  idea.  It  is  not  improbable  that  Drayton,  in  cor- 
recting his  poem  again  for  the  edition  of  1619,  changed  "  Heaven 
his  model  first  began  "  to  "  Nature  him  began  "  with  the  passage 
from  Julius  Cccsar,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  in  mind. 


T53 


THE  TRAGEDY  OF 


Questions  on  Julius  Caesar. 


1.  What  was  the  date  at  which  Julius  Cccsar  was .  probably- 
written  ? 

2.  Where  did  Shakespeare  derive  the  materials  for  this  play? 

3.  How  many  days  are  taken  up  by  the  action? 

ACT  FIRST. 

4.  How  is  the  popular  worship  of  Caesar  shown  by  the  first 
Scene?     What  is  the  attitude  of  the  tribunes  towards  him? 

5.  What  was  the  nature  of  the  office  of  tribune  in  the  Roman 
state  ? 

6.  How  does  the  mob  pictured  in  this  play  contrast  with  the  one 
in   Corioianus? 

7.  What  was  the  course  (ii.  4.)  that  Antony  was  to  run? 

8.  What  part  of  Caesar's  nature  is  seen  in  his  words  to  Cal- 
purnia?  What  effect  have  the  words  of  the  Soothsayer  upon 
him? 

9.  In  what  character  is  Brutus  first  presented?  What  phase  of 
his  own  character  does  Cassius  try  to  impress  in  lines  71-78? 

10.  What  is  the  problem  that  the  career  of  Caesar  presents  to 
Cassius?  What  does  Cassius  wish  to  illustrate  by  the  incidents 
of  the  flood  and  the  fever?    What  is  Cassius's  personal  motive? 

11.  Indicate  the  effect  of  the  shouting  upon   Brutus. 

12.  What  is  the  dramatic  purpose  (line  192  ct  seq.)  of  Caesar's 
singling  out  Cassius  for  comment?  What  does  he  say  of  him? 
Why  should  these  two  natures  be  antipathetic? 

13.  What  observation  of  the  returning  procession  does  Brutus 
make  that  prepares  for  the  recital  of  Casca? 

14.  With  what  is  Caesar  chargeable  in  this  Scene?  Show  the 
difference  between  treason  and  revolution  as  illustrated  by  the 
scene  that  Casca  describes. 

15.  What  effect  has  Sc.  ii.  in  predisposing  the  minds  of  the 
spectators  ? 

154 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Questions 

i6.  What  is  the  effect  (Sc.  iii.)  of  the  supernatural  background 
for  the  conspiracy? 

17.  Show  what  else  besides  the  winning  of  Casca  to  the  con 
spiracy  is  effected  by  Cassius's  argument  with  him. 

18.  Does  the  Act  close  with  the  implication  that  Brutus  is 
won  over  to  the  conspiracy?  What  is  foreshadowed  by  the  fre- 
quent reference  throughout  the  Act  to  the  ides  of  March  ? 

ACT  SECOND. 

19.  How  does  Brutus  reason  about  the  ambition  of  Caesar? 
What  does  he  say  (i.  61  et  seq.)  about  his  life  since  Cassius  had 
first  suggested  the  opposition  to  Caesar? 

20.  Before  the  oath  is  proposed  (line  113),  what  indication  is 
given  of  the  state  of  mind  of  the  conspirators?  How  does 
Brutus  answer  the  proposition  that  they  swear  their  resolution? 
What  does  this  reveal  of  his  character? 

21.  Why  does  Brutus  exclude  Cicero  from  the  group  of  con- 
spirators? On  what  motive  does  he  save  Mark  Antony?  What 
later  speech  of  his  is  foreshadowed? 

22.  What  effect  is  secured  by  contrast  of  this  scene  with  the 
sleeping  boy? 

23.  How  does  Portia  add  to  our  knowledge  of  Brutus?  What 
kind  of  a  woman  is  she? 

24.  How  does  Sc.  ii.  provide  a  contrast  with  the  preceding? 
How  at  the  end  of  this  Scene  are  the  minds  of  the  spectators 
further  disposed  in  favour  of  the  conspirators? 

25.  What  purpose  of  the  senators  does  Decius  report?  How 
does  this  dramatically  affect  the  matter  of  the  conspiracy? 

26.  Show  in  what  ways  Scs.  iii.  and  iv.  prepare  for  the 
tragic  episode  of  the  first  Scene  of  the  next  Act. 

ACT  THIRD. 

27.  Note  the  dramatic  effect  of  the  first  line  of  the  Act.  What 
is  Caesar's  mental  attitude  in  speaking  the  line? 

28.  Does  Shakespeare  intend  any  final  impression  concerning 
the  justice  of  the  conspiracy  before  the  blow  is  struck? 

29.  How  does  the  plot  come  near  dissolution  upon  the  minute 
almost  of  execution?     Who  saves  the  situation,  and  how? 

30.  What  is  the  immediate  effect  upon  Cassius  and  Brutus  of 
Caesar's  death? 

155 


Questions  THE  TRAGEDY  OF 

31.  What  sentiments  concerning  death  are  uttered  by  Brutus 
and  Cassius? 

S2.  Does  the  message  that  Antony  sends  by  the  servant  sound 
frank  and  sincere?     Does  it  initiate  the  falHng  action? 

SS.  Upon  what  differing  aspects  of  the  situation  do  Cassius 
and  Brutus  dwell  in  their  scene  with  Antony  after  the  assassina- 
tion? 

34.  How  does  the  opposition  to  the  conspirators  begin  to  take 
shape  towards  the  close  of  Sc.  i.? 

35.  Comment  on  the  following  points  of  Brutus's  speech :  its 
personal  apology ;  its  patriotism ;  its  sincerity ;  its  pathos. 

36.  How  is  the  dramatic  problem  met  of  not  allowing  Brutus's 
speech  to  weaken  the  effect  of  Antony's  which  follows?  Was 
Brutus  weak  in  allowing  Antony  to  speak?  Would  Cassius  have 
permitted  it? 

37.  What  was  the  prepossession  of  the  crowd  of  citizens  when 
Antony  rose  to  address  them? 

38.  Where  rests  the  blame  for  the  failure  of  the  conspiracy? 

39.  How  does  Antony  take  up  a  phrase  of  Brutus's  speech? 
W^hat  means  does  he  use  to  controvert  the  assertion  contained 
therein  ? 

40.  Show  how  the  tide  of  feeling  among  the  people  changes 
as  Antony  progresses  in  his  oration.  What  is  the  climax  in  this 
speech,  and  how  is  it  prepared  for?  What  theme  has  been  held 
in  abeyance  so  that  its  appeal  may  be  augmented  by  pity? 

41.  What  is  Antony's  state  of  mind  after  the  citizens  withdraw 
with  Caesar's  body?  Compare  him  with  Hamlet  at  the  close  of 
the  play-scene. 

42.  How  is  the  effect  of  Antony's  speech  exhibited  in  Sc.  iii.? 

ACT  FOURTH. 

43.  In  Sc.  i.  how  are  the  triumvirs  engaged?  What  is  seen  as 
the  reaction  of  mob-rule? 

44.  How  does  Antony  regard  Lepidus? 

45.  Does  this  Scene  endeavour  to  enlist  the  sympathies  for 
the  triumvirs  that  were  once  given  to  the  conspirators? 

46.  What  is  the  purpose  of  Sc.  ii.?  What  speeches  in  it  indi- 
cate the  declining  fortunes  of  the  republican  leaders? 

47.  What  mutual  accusations  pass  between  Brutus  and  Cas- 
sius?    Where  is  the  point  of  turning  in  their  anger? 

48.  To  what  does  anger  give  place? 

156 


JULIUS  CAESAR  Questions 

49.  Is  there  shown  any  deterioration  in  the  characters  of  these 
two  men? 

50.  In  the  larger  economy  of  the  action,  what  part  does  the 
death  of  Portia  play?  What  particular  effect  is  produced  by  the 
news  of  it  at  the  time  it  is  first  made  known? 

51.  How  does  this  event  serve  as  a  test  of  the  Stoic  principles 
professed  by  the  two  men? 

52.  What  does  Brutus  urge  concerning  the  prosecution  of  the 
campaign?  Wherein  resides  the  irony  of  the  famous  lines  uttered 
by  him,  beginning,  There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men? 

53.  What  trait  of  Brutus  does  the  incident  of  the  boy  and  the 
instrument  reveal?     Of  what  scene  is  it  reminiscent? 

54.  What  is  the  dramatic  purpose  of  the  ghost  scene? 

ACT  FIFTH. 

55.  In  what  relations  does  Sc.  i.  exhibit  Antony  and  Octavius? 

56.  What  are  the  taunts  that  Brutus  and  Cassius  throw  at 
Antony? 

57.  What  change  in  his  philosophical  faith  does  Cassius  an- 
nounce in  line  yy  ct  seq.? 

58.  Does  Brutus  remain  a  confirmed  Stoic? 

59.  What  is  foreshadowed  in  these  farewell  words? 

60.  What  is  the  immediate  occasion  of  Cassius's  death?  De- 
scribe the  manner  of  it.     In  that  was  he  a  true  Stoic? 

61.  How  does  Brutus  stand  in  the  opinion  of  the  republicans, 
as  evidenced  by  Titinius's  words  about  Cassius  (iii.  63),  The  sun 
of  Rome  is  set?  How  is  the  feeling  of  irreparable  disaster  en- 
forced by  taking  this  line  in  comparison  with  lines  51-53? 

62.  Compare  the  now  implied  opinion  of  Brutus  with  the  opin- 
ion held  by  him  at  the  time  of  forming  the  conspiracy.  What 
has  occasioned  the  difference? 

63.  Interpret  lines  94-96,  O  Julius  Ccesar,  etc. 

64.  For  what  does  Sc.  iv.  prepare? 

65.  How  does  Brutus  die? 

66.  How  does  Antony  speak  of  Brutus  at  the  end  of  the 
drama? 


67.  Is  the  drama  well  named,  considering  that  Caesar  plays  so 
unimportant  a  part  in  it?  What  title  would  you  suggest  to  cover 
the  theme  of  the  plot? 

68.  Who  is  the  real  hero  of  the  drama?     What  was  his  de- 


Questions 

feet,  considering  thv^  demand  that  the  circumstances  of  the  times 
would  make  upon  its  leading  spirit? 

69.  In  what  respects  was  Cassius  superior  to  Brutus  as  a  man 
for  the  times? 

70.  Is  there  a  falling  off  of  dramatic  interest  after  the  third 
Act? 

71.  In  what  way  does  Caesar  become  an  active  principle  in  the 
fourth  and  fifth  Acts? 

^2.  What  was  Brutus's  chief  quality  as  a  man?  In  what  in- 
stances does  he  exhibit  it? 

y^i'  Do  the  women  of  this  play  exercise  any  influence  in  de- 
termining the  action? 

74,  By  the  accepted  chronology  this  play  was  produced  just  be- 
fore Hamlet.  Mention  any  indications  you  may  find  that  Shake- 
speare was  meditating  his  great  masterpiece. 

75.  In  what  plays  of  Shakespeare  is  Julius  Caesar  mentioned? 


J58 


UNIVERSITY   OF  CALIFORNIA-LOS  ANGELES 


L  009  978  294  8 


